Spirit Detective's Sister
by ANHWincester
Summary: FemNaru. Reincarnated. Natsuko Urameshi was many things but unaware was not one of them. If Natsuko wasn't aware then she wouldn't have noticed her brother's spirit roaming the streets or noticed the fact that her brother's friends were not normal as her brother claimed for them to be. If her brother thought he could keep a secret from her then he had another thing coming.
1. Chapter 1

If there was one person Yusuke could always count on, it was his older sister.

His older sister was the only person in his family who he could always trust to be in his side, the only person in his family who actually cared about him. His mother cared about him sure but she was an irresponsible woman, who always left most of the work on his older sister, who was barely a year older than him. His sister never complained and never said a damn thing to their mother about her behaviour even though she had the most right to complain about how unfair their mother was being.

His sister never complained about anything, instead, she would just smile widely for everyone to see and do the work without any complaint. How the hell his sister balance school and housework was a mystery to him but he did know it was unfair for his sister to act like his mother.

To be honest, Natsuko acted more like a mother than their own mother did.

Natsuko was the only person, besides Keiko, who nagged him to go to school and always gave him disappointed looks whenever she saw his grades. Natsuko was the one who made him dinner and gave him long lectures about how he shouldn't pick a fight, which she had no right to say because Yusuke had seen his own sister fight gangs without any problem. His sister was the person who always gave him long, boring lectures about how he should focus on his studies and become somebody important.

He knew his sister loved him but Yusuke hated her nagging!

"...You're going to school even if I've to drag you by the ear," Natsuko said, putting her hands on her hips as she glared at him.

Yusuke quietly snorted at his sister's words and nodded his head, hoping it would be enough for the older girl to believe he was listening to her. Shaking her head, his sister slapped him in the back of the head. Yelping, Yusuke rubbed the back of his head and raised his eyebrow at his sister, who rolled her eyes at him.

"What was that for?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Natsuko yelled, stilting her blue eyes at him. "You think I'm actually going to believe that this time you're going to listen? Nope, you're coming with me to school. If I've to go through hell which is school then you've too!"

"I'm not going to school," He snapped. "You can't make me."

"Wrong answer," Natsuko said, giving him a smile before grabbing his shirt collar. "And if you even think of doing that disappearing act of yours, I'll hunt you down and make you regret thinking you fooled your sister."

"You never fall for the traps!" He pointed out as his sister grabbed the lunchboxes she prepared for them. "And why do you always want me to go to school? I'm always getting crap from the teachers."

"Because I get crap from the teachers about why my brother doesn't bother to come to school," Natsuko answered, wrinkling her nose at him. "Do y'know how many times I have to deal with teachers talking crap about you? Oh and don't get me started about Keiko, your girlfriend tries her hardest to convince me to talk to you about going to school. Of course, she only does that when you don't listen to her! Seriously, why does Keiko put up with you?"

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Out of everything I said, the only thing you heard was the fact I called Keiko your girlfriend?" His sister asked in disbelief. "And Keiko is practically your girlfriend. She comes to our house to check on you and she is always worried about you. Don't get me started on the fact she refuses to go on any dates because you're the only person in her mind. Seriously, why don't you two just admit you like each other and start dating?"

"Why do you care so much about my dating life?" He asked his sister, who finally let go of his ear when the two of them were in the street leading them to their school. "Shouldn't you worry about your own dating life? You should start searching for a strong guy who could beat me so you don't end up a spinster."

"Isn't it my job as your noisy big sister to worry about your love life?" His sister asked, tying her blond hair into her signature braid. "And who says I'm not dating anyone dear little Yusuke? You don't know everything that goes on in my personal life."

"Because if you're dating someone, they would rub it in my face," Yusuke said as the two of them walked through the school gates. "After all, you're _my_ sister."

His sister rolled her eyes. "If I was dating someone then I would make sure for them not to rub it in your face until I'm certain it's serious. Besides, if you think I can't protect myself Yusuke then you've another thing coming after all who taught you how to fight? And if said boyfriend can't beat you up then they aren't worth my time."

"No boy is worth your time," He told her. "You're going to be the fun aunt to any child I have and you'll be taking care of Kaa-san when she is too drunk."

"So basically, you want me to be the caretaker?" His sister said, shaking her head. "You're lucky I don't want to get into trouble in school or else I would kick you in the ass for saying that. I'm not going to be Kaa-chan caretaker until I'm fifty...who knows if Kaa-chan would live that long with the amount of alcohol she consumed."

"Why not? You're the one who cleans up after her mess till now and you practically said you aren't going to marry."

His sister raised her eyebrows at him. "I never say that."

"You just said you're not going to date a boy who can't beat me," Yusuke pointed out, grinning at his sister. "So that means you're not going to date anyone since there's no one in school or the other schools who can beat me in a fight."

Natsuko rolled her eyes at him but Yusuke could see the smile in his sister's lips, which told him more than anything his older sister found amusement in his declaration. He clenched his hands into a fist. Natsuko didn't believe him when he said there was no one in this city who could beat him. His sister saw him fight, always cheered him on (though she would scold him later) but when it came to him declaring he was the strongest, his sister would just laugh at him.

He was going to be the one who was going to laugh when his sister became an old spinster.

* * *

It had been nearly fifteen years since Uzumaki Naru had been reincarnated into Urameshi Natsuko but unlike her last life, Natsuko had a little brother to worry about and a mother to look after. She had an irresponsible mother to take care of, a bratty little brother who she wished would just listen to her but Natsuko knew that her brother was just like her. No matter what lifetime, Natsuko was a stubborn person who didn't take anyone's advice even if it killed her.

One of these days, her brother was going to die if he didn't listen to her advice. She may not look like it or even act it but Natsuko had a lot of advice when it came to education because the importance of education doesn't change in any lifetime. If she hadn't skipped her lessons so many times, Natsuko had no doubt she would have graduated from the Academy at a younger age but being the idiot she was, Naru skipped lessons as much as her little brother did.

There was no chance of getting a good job for her brother if he continued to do this since there was no chance of him becoming a shinobi in this world.

"Urameshi Natsuko, Takenaka-sensei would like to see you," Her English teacher said, snapping her from her train of thought.

Natsuko blinked her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows while everyone in the class snickered, no doubt thinking she was going to get a long lecture about her brother skipping lessons again. She glared at her fellow students before walking towards the door, where she could see the mournful and sympathetic expression on her brother's homeroom teacher's face.

Did something happen? She couldn't help but ask herself as she closed the door behind her as Takenaka rubbed his hands together, looking almost uncertain on what to tell her. Did her mother get into a fight again? Oh, kami did that meant she was in the hospital again and they needed to pay the bills? Oh god no, she hadn't saved enough money to pay the hospital bills again. No, it had to be something else. Her sensei might want to give her a long lecture on Yusuke's behaviour again and how she was supposed to be the responsible one between the two of them.

"Urameshi-san, there's no easy way for me to tell you this," Her principle finally said, taking in a deep breath. "A couple of minutes go, we've got a phone call from the hospital regarding Yusuke…"

"Did Yusuke got into a fight?" She asked, blinking her eyes. "No, if Yusuke got into a fight he would be at home, waiting for me to patch him up! Did he pass out? Why is my little brother in the hospital? Takenaka-sensei, why the hell is my little brother in the hospital? Does my mother know about this? No, even if she knew about it, she wouldn't even care! She never cares about Yusuke enough."

"Yusuke skipped his lessons again as you've no doubt known," Takenaka said, making her blink her eyes at him. "And he left school before school has ended…"

"What are you trying to tell me, Takenaka-sensei?" Natsuko demanded, clenching her hands into a fist. "What does my brother leaving the school have to do with a hospital? Did he get into a fight again?"

Takenaka curled his lips, glanced out at the window before slowly shaking his head at her. She furrowed her eyebrows, crossed her arms as she waited for the middle-age man to begin telling her about what the hell happened for her brother to be in the hospital. Kami, if her brother did something stupid for him to go to the hospital then Natsuko was going to yell at him and hit him in the head for doing something stupid.

"There's no easy way for me to tell you this, Natsuko," The teacher finally said, giving her a sympathetic gaze. "Your brother was in a car accident; he saved a little boy from the car but he didn't make it. I'm so sorry for your loss Natsuko, he'll be missed."

Her brother didn't make it, those were the only words that rang through her mind as she gazed at the middle-aged man who gave her sad eyes. Her bratty brother, who she always worried about didn't survive the car crash. Her little brother who she adored, who she swore to protect was gone. No, her little brother couldn't be gone! He just couldn't be gone. For goodness sake, he was just here in the morning.

Yusuke wasn't supposed to die.

Her little brother wasn't supposed to leave this world before her. That was the one thing Natsuko swore to herself when her mother presented her little brother wrapped around a blue blanket. Her little brother was the only real child their mother had because Natsuko wasn't really her child. She may call Atsuko her mother but Natsuko could never really bring herself to consider the woman her mother.

Still, her mother was going to need all the support she could get because Natsuko knew from her own memories that it was never really easy to know your child died before you.

"C-Can I be excused from lessons," Natsuko asked him, keeping her voice steady as she gazed at her teacher. "My mother needs someone to be there for her...and I need to see his body. I-I can't accept the fact he's dead until I see his body."

"Of course, you have special permission to leave the school," Takenara-sensei said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry for your loss Natsuko…"

"Sorry won't bring my little brother back, Takenara-sensei," Natsuko said softly, clenching her hands into a fist. "If you excuse me Takenara-sensei, I've a mother to comfort, a deadbeat father to talk to and a wake to organise because knowing my mother, she can't organise it by herself."

With those words, she went back inside of her classroom, grabbed her bags and ran out of the door, ignoring the cries of her sensei who asked her to explain herself. He could screw himself, she thought to herself, clenching her hands into a fist. There was no way in hell she could be in school or explain herself to the teachers when her little brother, the little brother she practically raised was dead.

No, everyone in school could screw themselves.

* * *

Yusuke looked down at his house, where he could see all of classmates and teachers walking into his wake, laughing and joking as they did so. What was the point of him coming here? His mother would be better off if he was dead. If he was dead then his mother had more chance of finding a good man for herself. His big sister would finally go on dates without worrying about him hating the guy or beating the guy up. If he came back to life, he was just going to irritate more people.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Natsuko-chan," One of his sister's classmates said to his sister, who stood by the door to greet the people coming to the house. Yusuke smiled when he saw the lack of tears on his sister's eyes. Out of everyone he knew, his sister was the one person he knew who wouldn't cry in public. Nothing could make his sister cry in public, he thought, watching as his sister nodded at them and said the typical words a host had to say.

Even though he was dead, his sister could still put on a mask.

Yusuke knew from a number of times he annoyed his sister that his sister was irritated with the people around her. He knew it from the way she clenched her hands into a fist, knew it from the way she would secretly glare at the people joking at his wake. Most of all he knew from the fact his sister kept closing her eyes; it was something she always did whenever she was trying to hold herself back from crying.

"This isn't good, let's go back!" A familiar voice yelled.

"Shut up and let me go!" Another familiar voice yelled and to Yusuke's surprise, he saw Kuwabara being held back by a couple of his friends.

He glanced at his sister, who just blinked her eyes and stared at the orange-haired boy with such blank eyes that it unnerved him. Natsuko never looked like that. His big sister always had emotions in her eyes but this was the first time he had seen her look so blank, so lifeless and it made him want to hit himself for hurting his sister like that. For as long as Yusuke could remember, he hated seeing his sister look so sad.

"Despicable! You win over me and go right up to die!" Kuwabara yelled, drawing everyone's attention at him. "I'm the only one who's supposed to kill you, you hear!"

Yusuke winced as he saw Kuwabara's friends tried to hold the boy back from his wake, struggling to stop the kicking and screaming boy from harming his body. They kept glancing at his sister, who just stared at them with such expressionless eyes that Yusuke felt for the first time remorse for making his sister become like that. He always thought if he died then his sister would have been able to handle it, would have been able to act as if nothing was wrong because that was what she did when their father walked out on them.

It seemed like he was wrong about that.

"Come back, you idiot!" Kuwabara snarled, drawing the attention of his sister. "Come back and fight me!"

His friends pulled the boy back, glanced at his sister and said in unison, "Sorry for the disturbance, Urameshi-san."

"It's okay," His sister said to them softly, rubbing her hands together. "Kuwabara is the first person I saw besides Keiko and my family who actually gives a damn that my brother is gone. He's the only person I know who actually cares about the fact my little brother is dead!"

For the first time since his waking started, Yusuke saw his sister cried her heart out. It was strange for him to see his sister cry, Yusuke thought to himself, until he was seven, he had been the crybaby in the family. Natsuko had never cried in front of anyone, not even in front of him but for her to cry in front of a crowd just showed him how much his sister missed him.

"Who's that?" Iwamoto asked, glancing at the disappearing form that belonged to Kuwabara.

"Looks like someone who hangs around with Urameshi a lot," Akashi said, wrinkling his nose at them.

Iwamoto grunted. "What a bunch of mindless jerks! Good thing he died doing something good before he died, that's why the name of our school went up…"

"Who knows, it could be that he was kicking the boy when the car came by," Akashi commented.

"That's a high possibility."

Yusuke barely blinked his eyes when he caught sight of his sister hurling a punch at the two teachers. He gawked at the sight in front of them, rubbed his eyes and glanced at the door, wondering how the hell his sister had gone from standing by the door side to being in the middle of the field. Not only that, how the hell was his sister able to hear that far? He knew his sister and he knew Natsuko would never punch someone for no reason.

"Urameshi!" Iwamoto yelled. "We're at a wake! This is…"

The man trailed off and gulped when he saw the cold fury in his sister's eyes. Yusuke swore he could almost see his whole sister's body glowing red and the whisker marks darkened as she glared at the two teachers. He shivered and looked at everyone else in the backyard, noticing how each one of them was gazing at his older sister in a new light.

Yusuke couldn't really blame them since no one had ever seen his sister pissed.

"We're at my brother's wake and you're insulting him by saying that he would beat up a little boy," his sister snarled, clenching her hands into a fist. "My brother gave his life for that boy and all you do is insult him! What Kuwabara did wasn't disrespectful since he's in denial that my brother is dead but you guys, you guys insult the dead when you talk like that! Hell, why the hell did you go to my brother's wake if you're going to insult him!"

She looked at everyone surrounding the area and yelled. "Why the hell did you guys come if you're going to say so many bad things about my little brother! I know he wasn't the nicest person to you guys but he was my little brother. Do you think it's nice to make jokes at his wake? That's the most disrespectful thing to do! If it wasn't for the damn fact that it's my brother's wake, I would punch every single one of you for being disrespectful to my family and me! Now if you're going to insult my brother anymore or insult my family then get the hell out of here before I show you that Yusuke wasn't the only one who is scary."

With those words, almost everyone in the area cleared, giving his sister an apologetic look but Yusuke knew his sister would never forgive them for the way they acted in his wake. It was funny, Yusuke thought, watching his sister as she walked inside their small apartment. he had always wanted to see what his sister would do if she was pushed to her limits and now he saw it.

It terrified him just how furious his sister could get.

Shaking his head, Yusuke went inside the house and noticed his mother had slumped against the wall. He felt his heart clenched when he caught sight of his sister hugging her mother, who kept crying out his name. He felt his heart constricted as his sister looked around the room, her eyes lingering to where he was.

"Kaa-chan, Yusuke may be gone but he'll always be watching over us," his sister whispered, her eyes lingering to where he was floating. "Y'know what they say Kaa-chan? The dead people will always be in our hearts...Yusuke will always be in our hearts."

"Yusuke! He's gone Natsuko!" His mother cried.

Natsuko gulped. "I know Kaa-chan. I know but you know what? Kaa-chan, Yusuke would always watch over us because he's an overprotective brother and son. Yusuke is always going to be watch over us. That little brother of mine might be a lot of things but he always had a good heart. Remember how he beat up a boy because he thought he was stalking me?"

"Yusuke always took things too far," her mother hiccuped. "But he's gone! My son is gone. He's gone."

His older sister closed her eyes and hummed to herself. "I know Kaa-chan, my little brother did something so heroic but I wish that idiot didn't do it. Why the hell did he have to get himself killed? Why the hell didn't the car driver thought of the speed limit? And most of all why the hell couldn't he have been lucky? I want my brother!"

It might have been the fact his sister was crying, the fact his mother was clinging to his sister for comfort or it may just have been the fact he caught sight of Keiko crying that Yusuke made his decision.

He hoped he didn't regret his decision.

* * *

 **A/N: Please review**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I want to thank everyone who reviewed as well as to everyone who added this story to their favourites and follows.

* * *

Gazing at her little brother's pale face, Natsuko couldn't help but remember the fight she had with Sasuke about her lack of understanding about what he went through. She thought she understood when she watched her oldest son die before her, which had been the most painful thing Naru had went through but, looking at her brother's pale face Natsuko couldn't help but think that all the pain she went through couldn't compare to the pain she currently felt.

In her previous life, she always had Kurama to comfort her. The nine-tailed fox might have always whined and complained but the fox had always been there for her. He had been the one to comfort her when she watched her husband died. He had been the one yelling at her to get herself together as she watched her son closed his eyes for the last time. The fox had always been there for her even till the ends of her days but now she had no one to comfort her.

"Y'know I always thought you were the one that is going to die after me," Natsuko said to her brother's corpse, fingering his cheek. "You're my younger brother so I always thought you were the one that is going to die before me. I always thought you were going to die surrounded by your grandchildren...telling them jokes and complaining about how they shouldn't be a bunch of sissies for crying at your death bed."

She felt her whole body tensed as she felt an unfamiliar presence in the room. It felt familiar to her, Natsuko mused, gazing down at her brother's face. It almost felt like her little brother's energy but he couldn't be here. Her little brother was dead...he was gone and he was never going to come back home and annoy the hell out of her. She clenched her hands into a fist. Her brother was never ever going to walk her to school anymore. He wasn't ever going to glare at any boy who looked at her the wrong way or argue with Keiko over the silliest of things.

Her brother was never even going to have his own kids.

"Natsuko, you should go to school," Her mother said, snapping her from her train of thought.

Natsuko twisted her body around and stared at the woman who gave birth to her new human body. For the first time in a very long time, her mother actually looked sober. There was no sign she had been drinking her whole heart out. Before Natsuko would have been happy to see this change but the fact her mother wasn't drinking because her brother was dead hurt her more then it ever should.

"I'm not going to school," Natsuko informed her mother. "If I see my teachers or any of my classmates, I'm going to beat the shit out of them for the way they treated Yusuke. They disrespected my little brother! No way in hell am I going to school."

Her mother gazed at her and then to her little brother before shaking her head. "I wasn't the best mother to you or Yusuke but I'm not letting you end up like me, Natsuko. You're going to school and that's final."

"I'm not going to end up like you, Kaa-chan," Natsuko said, clenching her hands into a fist. "But how can I go to school when I remember the way everyone joked and laughed about my brother's death? How can I go to school when everything reminds me of Yusuke? He's my little brother. H-He wasn't suppose to die like that."

Her mother gulped at the reminder, gazed at her little brother's corpse and then back at her. "From the moment Yusuke was born, you would cling to that boy as if he was your lifeline," Natsuko blinked her eyes at her mother. "I knew from the moment you saw him that you were going to be the best sister Yusuke could ever hope for. You acted more like a mother to your little brother then I ever did, you always made sure he ate his food properly, scolded him for skipping school and most of all you were always there for him."

"Kaa-chan…"

"It's my fault Yusuke is gone," her mother sobbed, gazing at her brother's corpse with such sadness that Natsuko was surprised the woman hadn't fallen down yet. "If I had been a better mother and actually forced that boy to go to school like you have been doing then he wouldn't have died! If that brother of yours was any stronger then he should have survived that crash!"

Natsuko opened her mouth to argue with her mother but closed her mouth when she caught sight of the undeniable grief in her mother's eyes. Taking in a deep breath, she hugged her mother tightly and closed her eyes as her mother cried her heart out at her shoulder. There was no way she could go to school with her mother in this state of mind. If she left her mother like this, would she even have a mother when she got back home?

There was definitely no chance of her leaving her mother for long hours by herself.

"I won't go to school today but I'll buy a couple of study books so that I could prepare for my science test next week," Natsuko finally said, causing her mother to look up at her with wide eyes. "But Kaa-chan, if you want me to go to school and if you want to become a better mother then it's time you get yourself together. I lost a brother but I don't want to lose a mother too...so for goodness sake, stop drinking alcohol everyday."

"Natsuko…"

"I mean it Kaa-chan, you need to stop drinking," Natsuko said seriously. "At this rate, you won't ever meet your future grandchildren if you drink like this."

Her mother hiccuped before looking at her suspiciously. "Natsuko, have you been seeing someone that I didn't know about?"

"No!" She said, rubbing the back of her neck. "But I might meet a guy someday and I probably will get married one day since Yusuke isn't...able to give you grandkids."

"Natsuko…"

"If you say anything embarrassing, I'm walking away."

Her mother hiccuped at her words but gave her a teary smile that told Natsuko more than anything that while her mother couldn't cope with her brother's death, she was going to learn how to cope with it. It was a start, Natsuko thought, rubbing her mother's back.

The question was...was her mother going to be able to cope with it?

* * *

"Natsuko-chan, I'm surprised you came in today!" The bookstore owner said as she entered the store with her orange hoodie. He glanced at her up and down before sighing at no doubt the dark circles under her eyes. If the old man was going to lecture her about how she needed to have a good night sleep then Natsuko was going to leave the store. She had no patience of listening to the old man lecturing her about something which wasn't his business.

"How are you holding up?" The owner asked her, causing her to blink her eyes at him. "I'm sorry for what happened to your brother...he was a good boy."

She gave him a weak smile, not bothering to try to tell him that he shouldn't lie to her. To everyone else, her brother had been a little demon but to Natsuko, her little brother was her blessing in disguise. He might have been a bully to people, might had been in more fights then she would like but he always tried his best to make sure she didn't worry about him. One of the things he used to do to make sure she didn't worry about him was accompanying her to this very bookstore as she got him books for their studies.

He never complained about how she brought for it for him but he never used them.

"Do you have any new science books?" Natsuko asked the shop owner. "I got a biology test next week and knowing my asshole of a teacher, he's going to make it very difficult."

"How many times have I told you not to cuss Natsuko? At this rate, no boy would ever consider going out with you," the shop owner scolded, earning an eyeroll from the blonde. The man sighed. "You're not even going to bother trying to take my advice."

"Nope."

The shop owner shook his head and gestured to the back of the shop. "Don't say I didn't tell ya. The books are right at the back at the top of the shelf."

"Why the hell did you put them so high?"

"Natusko, you know damn well I always put them there," The owner said, earning a scowl from the blonde. "Look if it's really a problem for you to get them then I'll come help ya out."

The blonde nodded and thanked the man before heading towards the back corners of the bookstore. If it really as high as she thought it was then Natsuko would have no choice but to jump really high to get them, which wasn't something she wanted to do. It wouldn't be a problem in the forest if she jumped since there was rarely anyone in the forest she visited but the old man usually got a lot of students coming into the bookstore, which meant she couldn't show any of her powers here.

Nodding her head, she gazed up at the shelf and flickered her eyes through the book's spine, dismissing all the books she currently owned or the books that were simply too advanced for her to read. Despite having the memories of Naru, Natsuko was no better in understanding her studies than Naru ever was. The only difference was the fact she was truly trying to do well in school, something she didn't really do in her previous life.

Shaking her head, Natsuko looked up at the books and found an exercise book she hadn't brought yet. That book might do, she thought to herself as she tiptoed to reach the book self. She scowled as she realized that the book was just too high for her to get.

"You need any help?"

Natsuko blinked her eyes and twisted her body around to look at the owner of the voice. She was surprised to see a boy her age outside of school at around this time. Well, she wasn't surprised to see a boy skipping school but she was surprised to see a pretty boy who looked like he did well in school skipping lessons. Out of all the boys she met in her life, both previous life and now, this boy had to be the prettiest one she had seen which said something since Haku had been a very pretty boy.

It was funny, Natsuko thought as she gazed at the boy's emerald eyes, how everytime she saw a pretty boy they always looked like a girl. This boy just like Haku had long red hair that seemed to reach to the middle of his back and had eyes that reminded her of the emeralds she was once told to protect. He was just too pretty for his own good, Natsuko thought, gazing at the boy and then to the book right in front of her.

"Could you get me that book on the top shelf? I can't reach it since I'm too short," Natsuko finally said, smiling sheepishly at the boy.

The boy smiled and nodded his head at her, grabbing the book from the shelf and handing it to her. She smiled at him but her smile dropped as she gazed at the boy. His energy was strange, Natsuko thought to herself as he gazed at her, it felt too much like youkai energy for it to belong to a human. He wasn't a jinchuuriki that much Natsuko knew for certain. After all, in this world there was no such thing as the bjuu for their to be a jinchuuriki.

No, there was something odd about the boy.

"Thank you for getting the book for me, my name is Urameshi Natsuko," Natsuko said, giving him a small bow. "What's your name?"

The boy gave her a smile but Natsuko knew all too well from her own experiences that the smile on the boy's face was a little bit too fake. What on earth could cause the boy to smile like that? Was he faking being happy? Or did he simply like not talking to her? If he didn't like talking to her then why the hell did he bother to help her? So many questions but there were so little answers.

"My name is Minamino Shuuichi, Urameshi-san," The boy said, shaking her head.

Natsuko wrinkled her nose at him. "Y'know you can call me Natsuko or Natsuko-san but never call me Urameshi-san. If you call me by my last name I think I'm in trouble or something."

"Very well...Natsuko-san," He said, flickering his eyes at her book and then to the whisker marks that decorated her cheeks.

She raised her eyebrows at him before shrugging her shoulders. "It was nice to meet you Shuuichi-san but if you excuse me, I need to pay for this book before going back home."

Giving him a small bow, Natsuko went to the cashier and paid for her new exercise book. In the corner of her eyes, Natsuko swore she saw the red-haired boy staring at her with calculating eyes as if he was debating about what to do with her. She shook her head and walked out of the door and in the direction of her home.

The boy in the bookstore was strange but Natsuko doubt she would ever see him again.

* * *

"I see you finally met Natsuko-chan. She's a pretty girl don't you think?" The bookstore owner said to Kurama as he watched the blond-haired girl walked with her book in one hand and her other hand in her pocket. The red-haired boy blinked his eyes at the owner before curling his lips at him. It would be better if the man thought he was interested in the girl in that sense. It would do him no good if the owner found out he was only interested in the girl because of her strange appearance.

For the first time since he had been reborn a human, Kurama found a mortal who had a feature that few demons would have. If it weren't for the fact he felt her energy, he would have mistaken the girl for a hanyou but the girl had energy that screamed human.

"She's very pretty," Kurama finally said.

"Too pretty if you ever asked her brother," The owner said, shaking his head at him but Kurama could detect the hint of sadness in his voice. "Her brother used to come here with her whenever she used to buy books for the two of them and would always threaten any boy who dared to look at his sister's way."

"You say used to, what happened?"

"He got hit by a car when he tried to save a little boy from the car," The owner grimaced. "Poor boy didn't even reach the hospital before he died….that was yesterday. It must have killed Natsuko-chan when they told her, her little brother didn't make it."

"Were they that close?" Kurama asked, knowing that was what the man wanted him to ask.

The owner nodded his head. "Everyone in these parts knows that Natsuko-chan had been the one raising her little brother while her mother went off and partied. Wherever Natsuko was, her little brother wasn't far away. They used to do everything together. Now the boy is gone and I doubt the girl knows what to do with herself. I doubt she can even lean against her mother for comfort...the woman could barely take care of herself, let alone a girl like Natsuko."

Kurama nodded his head and thanked the man before picking up his newest book. He couldn't stop himself from watching the blond-haired girl's disappearing form. Not once in his long life had he ever seen a human with as much powers as the girl he had seen. It was off the scale, Kurama mused, glancing down at the book in his hand. He didn't know how much spirit the girl has but he did know it was the strongest in the area...perhaps the strongest in this city.

The only question was how on earth was the girl able to walk around with that much energy level and still be safe? If a demon smelt her scent, felt the enormous amount of energy that the girl had then they would have been after her.

Perhaps if he had met her earlier, Kurama would have taken the time to observe her but he would never have the chance if everything went according to plan.

 **~X~**

Was it too much for her to hope her mother would listen to her about the drinking? Natsuko asked herself as she wrinkled her nose at the scent of alcohol which lingered in the air. She had been gone for nearly two hours and already her mother must have drunk more then three bottles of sake, which was a new record for her mother. If her mother kept this up, Natsuko had no doubt her mother would be able to break Tsunade's record of drinking ten bottles of sake in one day.

Shaking her head, Natsuko picked up the empty bottles of sake and placed them in the trashcan before walking towards her brother's coffin. She felt her heart constrict when she caught sight of her mother sleeping on her brother's chest with tears pouring out of her eyes. For a brief moment, Natsuko could see the image of her mother singing a lullaby to her and Yusuke in the hopes that the two of them would sleep.

Looking back, Natsuko knew her mother didn't have an easy time raising her and Yusuke...especially when their biological father walked out on them.

Taking a deep breath, Natsuko made her way towards her mother's room and took the blankets from her bed. It might be a couple of hours before the woman woke up from her sleep and went back to crying her heart out. When that happened, she was going to make sure the woman didn't have a cold. Nodding her head, the blonde wrapped her mother with the blanket before gently prying the alcohol bottle away from her mother's hands.

"Y'know you did a good thing by saving that boy Yusuke...as much as I want to yell at you for doing that, I can't blame you," Natsuko whispered, taking a seat in front of her brother. "I-I woulda done the same thing but I hate the damn fact you're dead. Why the hell couldn't you have run a little faster? If you run a little bit faster then you might have a chance of surviving...then none of this would happen."

If her brother was here, he would make some silly comment about how he couldn't run that fast and would dare her to try to run faster then him. She felt her throat clogged up as she remembered the many times where her little brother would make a bet against her and then complain about how she cheated after she won the bet. He always hated losing, Natsuko thought fondly, licking her dried lips.

Her brother would always ask her a rematch whenever she won a match against him. He could never handle being a loser, Natsuko mused, running her hands against her brother's flat hair. Yusuke always wanted to be the winner when it came to their games and fights. She usually let him win because Natsuko would have given the world to that brother of hers just as long as he gave her a smile.

It was funny, Natsuko thought as she looked down on her brother's face, she only understood Itachi's reasons until she had her own little brother. It wasn't until her mother given birth to Yusuke that she understood why Itachi used to be overprotective over Sasuke, why he didn't try to bargin for the lives of the other children of the clan. If the village still existed and they wanted to excute everyone in her family, Natsuko would have tried her hardest to make sure Yusuke was spared because he was her flesh and blood.

Though the love she had for her brother was not as strong as the love she had for Naru's children. Natsuko doubt she would ever love someone as strong as love she had for Naru's children or had a love that rivaled Naru's love for Sasuke. She sighed and patted her brother's face but stopped when she noticed her brother's cheeks were red.

She blinked and blinked her eyes before pressing her fingers against her brother's pulse, feeling her heart rate raced as she tried to feel for his pulse. Could it be possible her brother was still alive? She thought to herself, taking in deep breaths as she tried to feel for his soothing pulse. Could it be that the doctors were wrong about her little brother? No, she checked her brother's pulse when they tried to explain to her about how they tried their best to save her brother's life.

 _Thump. Thump._

She gulped and blinked back the tears as she felt her brother's pulse. It was slow, too slow for her taste but it was there. There was a pulse in her brother. Her brother was still alive but how the hell was it possible? She blinked her eyes and looked out at the window, where she saw her brother floating. He was staring at her, looking at her with a guilty expression that Natsuko wondered if she was just dreaming of seeing her brother floating there. Maybe, she wanted for him to feel guilty for leaving her like this.

"It'll be a while before Natsuko-neechan will sleep especially now that Kaa-chan is passed out," Her brother said, glancing at his left and to Natsuko's surprise, she saw a pretty blue-haired girl floating right beside him, sitting on a familiar boat oar. She knew there were people who used them. She knew she had seen it before but where the hell had she seen it? She blinked her eyes as the memories of the day of her first death rushed through her mind.

The Shinigami who took her to Enma had used one of those. Was that girl a shinigami? It would make sense, Natsuko thought to herself, gazing at her brother's floating body. No one really wore a kimono...they always wore the clothes they died with and most of them didn't die in kimono. It also didn't help she knew her brother wouldn't be in the mortal world if he didn't have someone to guide him.

"Give her a couple of hours," The girl said, gazing at her.

"No, Natsuko-neechan will stay up until she's certain Kaa-chan was sleeping through the night," Yusuke informed the girl. "Natsuko-neechan doesn't trust Mum when she's awake, she'll trust her less now that I'm dead."

She gazed at her mother's sleeping body and curled her lips. Her brother was right. Natsuko certainly doesn't trust their mother now that Yusuke was dead. If anything, Natsuko needed to keep a better eye on her mother to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. Maybe she should request a couple more weeks off, she mused, rubbing her mother's shoulders. She wasn't going to leave that mother of hers alone until she was certain her mother wasn't going to kill herself.

"Don't wake me up, Natsuko!" Her mother yelled, waving her bottle at her.

Natsuko ducked under her mother's attack and said. "Kaa-chan, I think there's something you should see...look at Yusuke's cheeks."

Her mother blinked her eyes and glanced down at her brother's body, noticing for the first time that Yusuke's once pale cheeks were now rosy red. The brown-haired woman licked her lips, touched her brother's cheeks and then gazed at her with hopeful eyes that it hurt Natsuko that she couldn't comfort the woman who gave birth to her physical body.

"Natsu...are you trying to tell me Yusuke's alive?" Her mother said, gulping as she glanced at her brother's body.

Natsuko nodded her head and flickered her eyes to the window still, where she could see her brother looking at her with wide eyes as if surprised she figured it out.

"I felt his pulse, Kaa-chan…" she said, placing her cheeks to her brother's warm cheeks. "And it's slow but it's there Kaa-chan, Yusuke is still alive. My little brother isn't dead. He's going to make it! That bratty brother of mine is a fighter, Kaa-chan just like the way you raised us. It won't be long before he comes back."

"Yusuke!" Her mother cried, hugging her brother's body so tight that Natsuko was scared that her mother might just kill his body from the lack of air.

Did it really matter though? Her brother was alive and that was all that mattered to Natsuko.

* * *

"Weren't you lucky that your sister found your pulse?" Botan said to Yusuke as he watched his mother clung to his older sister as she cried to the world that he was alive. "Now you don't need to worry about your body being crementated."

Yusuke nodded his head but didn't try to say anything instead he watched as his sister cried along with his mother. How did his sister knew to look for his pulse? He wondered as his mother cried out his name against his sister's orange blouse. There wasn't enough time for him to send a message to his sister to tell her to stop their mother from crementing his body. Did his sister had some freaky power that allowed her to know someone was alive? No, he was being silly again because there was no way she could do it.

Yet as his sister kept flickering her eyes at him and Botan, Yusuke couldn't help but wonder if his sister could really see him.

"Botan...is it possible for someone to see the dead?" Yusuke asked, glancing at Botan. "Can my sister see me?"

Botan tilted her head and shook her head. "No but your sister might be able to feel your emotions if the two of you are feeling the same thing."

Yusuke had his doubts about what Botan said but he couldn't argue with her since she had more knowledge on this stuff then him but Yusuke couldn't help but think his sister could see him.

It didn't matter to him because he would be reunited with his sister and their family.

* * *

 **A/N:** Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter as well to everyone who added this story to their favourites and follows.**

"You don't have to come with me to the hospital, Natsuko," her mother insisted as she placed her brother's arms around her shoulder. Natsuko raised her eyebrows at the woman, who was flushed red as she struggled to carry her brother towards the door. No matter how many times her mother had been in fights and no matter how many times Natsuko saw her mother slam her fist against her brother's thick skull, Natsuko knew her mother didn't have the upper body strength to carry her brother to the hospital by herself.

"If you're worried about me missing school, Kaa-chan then you have nothing to worry about," Natsuko said, placing her brother's other arm around her shoulder. "I have already caught up with all the work that I missed and I still have permission from the principle not to go to school."

"Natsuko-chan, school is very important," her mother said as the two of them walked towards the streets, where they would hopefully find a taxi. "I know you're pissed with how your schoolmates and teachers reacted to Yusuke's death, god knows that I would punch them in the face for their actions but it doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your future for them."

"And I'm not, Kaa-chan!" Natsuko declared, wrinkling her nose at her mother. "Ya think I'm not going to go to school because of those bastards, Kaa-chan? Going to school is painful Kaa-chan. School reminds me of Yusuke and even though there's a chance my little brother is alive, it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt that I can't see him everyday or yell at him for being an idiot for skipping school."

Her mother just gave her an understanding look as if she knew what she was going through and knowing her mother's past, she probably did understand. When Natsuko was five and Yusuke was four, their mother was told that her older brother died in a motorcycle accident. For seven days straight, her mother cried her heart out in her bedroom as she struggled to accept her big brother was gone. Even though her mother cried for her brother, mourn for him, her mother never went to his funeral.

Natsuko suspected it was because of her mother's parents.

Her mother didn't know this but Natsuko remembered her mother's parents. They were the exact opposite of her mother. Her grandparents were cold, stern people who had taken one look at her mother, her and Yusuke before turning their faces away in disapproval. Natsuko still remembered how her mother had looked so heartbroken at their actions but also how her mother kept her head high and greeted them with a coldness that could even make Sasuke impress.

In a way Natsuko understood why her mother's parents were cold to her mother. The fact their daughter first got pregnant at the age of thirteen was not something a parent could accept and would disapprove of but Natsuko could never accept the fact they turned their back on her mother. They were parents. They were supposed to be there for her mother but instead they turned their backs on her.

If it had been Naru's daughter, Natsuko would have yelled and scolded her for her mistakes but in the end, she would have done everything in her power to make sure her daughter was happy and safe before murdering the bastard who put her in that position.

"Natsuko, are you going to go in or not?" Her mother asked her, snapping her from her train of thought. "If you don't get your ass in this taxi in the next couple of seconds, I'm going to go to the hospital by myself!"

Natsuko gazed at her mother's warm eyes, noticing the haunted look in her eyes before sliding into the seat. Her mother nodded her head, placed Yusuke's head next to her chest before grabbing Natsuko's right hand. Squeezing her mother's hand, Natsuko looked out at the windows where she watch the buildings pass them by.

In the corner of her eyes, she saw her brother floating in midair with the pretty blue-haired shinigami by his side, who seemed to be talking to her brother about something. If Natsuko didn't know she didn't want Enma's attention, she would have called out to her brother and ask him about what the hell was happening to him and if he was being careful in the other side. Everything had a price especially deals made with Enma. The bastard always wanted something for the favour asked.

Natsuko hoped for her Enma's sake, the price wasn't something dangerous because Natsuko was going to find a way to murder the lord for putting her brother in harm. She hoped the bastard didn't forget who was stronger one between the two of them. Just because she had been reincarnated didn't mean she had lost her powers or abilities, it just meant she had a smaller body than compared to before.

"When this boy wakes up, I'm going to teach him a lesson for putting me through this," her mother declared hotly, snapping her from her train of thought. "I-If he died, I-I don't know what I'll do with myself."

"You always have me, Kaa-chan," Natsuko said, squeezing her mother's hands. "You'll always have me by your side, don't you ever forget that."

Her mother gave her a teary smile before ruffling her hair. "I know I do Natsuko. Out of everyone in our family, I know I can always count on you to be there for me. When your father left us, I was a wreck and when my brother died...I was even worse but each time, I had you and Yusuke to make sure I didn't do anything more stupid. If it weren't for you Natsuko, I wouldn't have the strength to come here."

"Kaa-chan…"

"I'm supposed to be your mother but most of the time, you're the one that's always taking care of me," her mother said softly, clenching her hands into a fist. Natsuko just blinked her eyes at her mother. "You shouldn't be the one making food for your brother while I worked and you shouldn't be the one staying up late to make sure I come back home safe. Most of all, you shouldn't have been the one to always yell at Yusuke for skipping school."

"Kaa-chan…"

"I never once let you act your age," her mother continued, hiccuping. "And I'm sorry for that Natsuko. You deserved a better mother then me...both Yusuke and you deserved better than this."

Natsuko felt tears building up behind her eyes and for the first time since she was reborn, Natsuko was at a loss at what to say to this woman. The part of her that was solely Naru wanted to comfort this woman and tell her that she wasn't the worse mother while the part of her that was solely Natsuko wanted to tell her that it was too late to apologize.

She couldn't tell her mother it was too late so she did the next best thing.

"Raising Yusuke and I wasn't easy for you," Natsuko said softly. "Yusuke always wanted to buy the newest toys but we could never really afford it...especially after Dad left. You had to raise me and Yusuke without the help of our father or from our grandparents...so, of course, you couldn't do it well. Kaa-chan, you had Yusuke and me too early in life to understand what it meant to have a kid."

Her mother sighed. "If I wasn't so exhausted Natsuko, I would hit you in the head for that last bit but it wasn't easy to raise Yusuke. You were so easy to raise...you were so quiet and you didn't ask for much from me. I remember how you always demanded hugs from me or your father and how you used to cling to me as we walk towards the streets."

"Kaa-chan…"

"If I hadn't messed up then you would still act like that," Her mother cried. "My daughter shouldn't be the one comforting me, it should be the other way around."

Natsuko kept quiet at hearing this. There was nothing she could say to the woman that would make her feel better. If she said her mother was wrong then Natsuko would be lying to the woman. If there was one thing Natsuko couldn't do, it was to lie about someone's fault. Besides, her mother probably would have messed her up if she wasn't Naru Uzumaki first.

Honestly, Natsuko was glad she had been Naru Uzumaki first because if she had been born Natsuko Urameshi first then she would have ended up like the woman right in front of her.

* * *

Gazing at his sleeping mother's face, Kurama could not help but feel guilt for the way he treated this woman in his earlier years. He had never considered the woman his mother until she became this ill. Until now, he had only considered her the woman he felt indebted to since she got herself injured for him. It wasn't until his mother became seriously ill did he realized just how much he thought the woman was like his mother.

It was just like how his mentor had told him, Kurama thought as he peeled the apple gently. His mentor had not hated humans like a couple of demons did but he didn't hold them with great fondness. There was only one mortal his mentor would ever consider with great fondness and it was a human girl, who had passed away before Kurama had met his mentor.

His mentor always spoke of that one mortal with fondness even if he did complain about her. His mentor's siblings told him it was because he considered the girl to be like his own daughter. She had been kind, his mentor's siblings would say with fondness, and she was so much more understanding than most mortals had been in that world. She had been so kind and good that she was able to make anyone who was once her enemy, her friend.

Kurama didn't know how his mentor came to meet the girl but he did know his mentor cared for the girl so much that he named his first-born daughter after her.

Kurama wrinkled his nose as he remembered his mentor's daughter. The vixen had been a beauty but she had clung to him more than he would have ever liked. She hadn't been loud and she was smart but Kurama didn't feel anything for the young vixen, who cried and hit him when he told her this. It was a miracle his mentor hadn't beaten him up for his actions towards his daughter but then again, his mentor told him he had seen what it was like for a girl not to get hint when their feelings weren't in the same page.

Shaking his head, Kurama placed the peeled apples into the bowl and stared at his sleeping mother. If the plan worked then his mother would have a chance to live her life the fullest. She would be able to go back to going on proper dates with her boyfriend and hopefully, she would marry him. When that happened, his mother could mother her stepchild to forget about him.

He nodded his head and walked out of the door but not before having one last look at his mother. Kurama knew the price he would have to pay for his mother's health. Years ago, it would have scared him but his mother's health and happiness was on the line. If he should sacrifice his life for his mother's happiness then he would do it in a heartbeat.

"What do you mean we can't see a doctor right now!"

Kurama raised his eyebrows when he caught sight of a brown-haired woman yelling at the doctor. He blinked his eyes when he caught sight of a familiar blond-haired girl holding onto a sleeping boy. Wasn't that the girl he saw in the bookstore yesterday? Looking at her cheeks, Kurama noticed the whisker marks on her cheeks and finally concluded that it was indeed the girl he saw yesterday.

The boy in her arms held very little resemblance to her but looked a lot like the young woman yelling at the receptionist. Were those two her friends? No, it made no sense for her to come here if those two were friends. Perhaps, they were her relatives, Kurama concluded, as the woman continued to yell at the receptionist to get them a doctor.

"Kaa-chan, let the woman do her job," Natsuko said, causing him to blink his eyes at this revelation. "The doctor isn't going anywhere...besides, we're at a hospital. We shouldn't be drawing attention to ourselves."

"Natsuko, we need an explanation on what's happening to your brother! And we need to know what to do to make sure he wakes up," Natsuko's mother said, gesturing towards the sleeping boy. "If we weren't at a hospital, I would hit the woman for being too slow."

The woman also had some spiritual energy, Kurama thought as he gazed at the brown-haired woman, but her spiritual energy wasn't as high as her daughter. Perhaps, the girl in front of him inherited her spiritual energy from her father's side of the family. He flickered his eyes at her brother, noticing how the boy's spirit energy was too low for him to be alive but not too low for him to be dead. Something didn't make sense, he thought, walking towards the machine.

"Shuuichi-san, what are you doing here?"

Kurama blinked his eyes and twisted his body around to see the blond-haired girl standing right behind him with her brother's body slung over her shoulder. She had a smile on her face as she looked at him but unlike the girls in school, her smile looked more genuine. It wasn't a smile which told him she was planning to ambush him or lacked genunity. No, her smile was truly genuine.

"I'm visiting someone."

She nodded her head. "From the fact you're here during school hours, I'm guessing you're visiting a sick family member right?"

He curled his lips at her question before nodding his head. There was no point for him to lie to this girl, there was nothing for her to gain from this knowledge nor did he benefit from her knowing his mother was sick. If the girl was from his school then it would be another thing entirely but until yesterday, Kurama had never seen the girl in his life.

"How long has your family member been sick?" The girl asked, leaning against her foot.

"A couple of weeks now," he answered.

She gazed at her brother and then to him before finally saying, "Is there a cure for your family member's sickness?"

"No," he answered. "It's the first time they've seen her case."

The blond-haired girl gave him a smile but her smile wasn't like the pity smiles he saw in the doctor's face when they told him what was wrong with his , this girl was giving him a smile out of a sympathy as if she knew what he was going through and maybe she did because Kurama knew from the talk he had with the bookstore owner that the girl had lost her brother. Or so it seemed.

"Y'know when a family member is about to die, all they want is to have their family members surrounding them," Natsuko said, leaning against her foot. "I'm sure your family member is happy to have you by their side. I wish I had been there for my brother before he got into that accident...he shouldn't have died by himself."

"From what I heard, your mother thinks he's going to wake up," Kurama said, watching the girl closely as she held onto her brother. She stiffened when he mentioned her mother but Kurama noticed that her eyes brightened when he mentioned about her brother waking up. The girl hadn't come to terms with the fact her brother was dead just like the shop owner had told him yesterday and if what the shop owner was saying was true then it was because her brother was someone she raised.

"I think he's going to wake up too," the girl admitted. "I'm not saying this because I want my little brother back, which I do because he's my baby brother but, because I can still feel his heart beating. My baby brother's heart went from being still to suddenly beating...which either tells me that the doctors are a bunch of idiots or that my brother is not willing to die just yet."

Kurama nodded his head and watched as the girl placed the boy's shoulder on her other arm. She didn't look like carrying her brother was a huge strain for her but he did notice that the girl kept glancing at her mother, who was still arguing with the receptionist about getting a doctor to visit them. He curled his lips when he saw that the woman was now waving her fist at the terrified receptionist.

"Why didn't Kami gave me a mother who could control her temper?" The blond-haired girl asked. "Hey, Shuuichi-san, can you hold my brother while I go calm down my mother?"

He hesitated before taking the boy from the girl's shoulder. Kurama leaned against his foot and watched as the blond-haired girl pulled her mother back before apologizing to the terrified receptionist about her mother's behaviour. How on earth could a daughter act so different from her mother? Kurama couldn't help but asked himself as the girl asked the woman to bring the doctor down as fast as possible. He raised his eyebrows when he heard the girl mentioned about how the woman only had five minutes to bring the doctor down or else she wouldn't stop her mother from hitting her.

Natsuko Urameshi, Kurama decided, was a very violent girl.

"Thank you Shuuichi-san for holding on to my brother while I dealt with the situation," the girl said politely, giving him a smile as she took her brother's off his hands. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to sit by my mother and wait for the doctor to come because frankly I'm scared what my mother might do the receptionist if she doesn't come back with a doctor before the next five minutes."

He just blink his eyes at her and said, "Alright Natsuko-san, I hope your brother wakes up soon."

"And I hope your family member gets better soon," the girl said happily, giving him a bright smile before walking towards her mother, who just stared at him and then to Natsuko with a curious expression on her face.

This would be the last time they would ever meet, Kurama thought to himself as he grabbed his drink from the machine and walked towards his mother's room. He would never meet this girl again but if he did meet her again, Kurama was going to find out how dangerous that girl was because no one could have that much spirit energy and not know how to use it.

He didn't know if that girl could be an ally or be his enemy and if there was one thing Kurama hated, it was not knowing.

* * *

"So when were you going to tell me you're interested in a boy, Natsuko-chan?" Her mother asked her as soon as they returned home from the hospital. For the first time since her brother's supposed death, her mother had a huge smirk on her face and looked so joyful at the fact her daughter was interested in someone. Thank god her brother was sleeping or else Natsuko would have to deal with an overprotective little brother jumping to conclusions about her relationship. "He's so pretty...y'know you shouldn't trust a pretty boy."

"I know Kaa-chan, you always tell me that," Natsuko said, crossing her arms. "And I'm not interested in Shuuichi-san. I barely know the guy and I certainly don't have an interest in him in that way...he's too pretty for his own good."

"You say that now Natsuko-chan but you might find yourself falling in love with that pretty boy," her mother said, grinning. "Besides who says you're interested in that way Natsuko-chan...for all, I know you might be interested in getting in his pants."

"Kaa-chan! You shouldn't be saying these things to your fifteen-year-old daughter! And I'm too young to think about these things!" Natsuko yelled. "Besides, shouldn't you be telling me not to think of getting into someone's pants or else I'll end up in your position? And I'm too young to think about getting in someone's pants."

Her mother rolled her eyes. "By the time I was your age, I was raising you and your little brother in this small apartment with the only income being me pimping some kids and of course your uncle giving me money since your good-for-nothing father wasn't earning any money. You're never too young to think about these things...I was pregnant with you when I was twelve."

Natsuko grimaced at the reminder while her mother sighed.

"I'm glad that you've more common sense than me," her mother finally said, sitting against the wall. "And yes, I should be telling you not to get into someone's pants but I know you Natsuko and I know I don't have to tell you to do this. Besides you know what will happen if you don't use protection while I loved having you and your brother, I don't want to be a grandmother at twenty-eight."

"Kaa-chan!"

"I'm just telling you to be careful."

"Oh sweet god," Natsuko said to herself as her mother gave her a smile before leaning against the wall. "I'm going to my room and study for my test, Kaa-chan because at this rate I'm going to die from embarrassment."

"My little girl is growing up!"

If only her mother knew that the girl she considered her daughter was actually a grown woman stuck in her child's body then maybe her mother would stop her teasing. No, her mother would definitely stop her teasing if she knew her eldest child had also been a grown woman who had given birth to three kids, housed a nine-tail fox in her stomach and defeated a powerful being by the time she was seventeen.

If she didn't know she would sound crazy, Natsuko would tell her mother this.

* * *

"It seemed like your older sister is seeing someone," Botan said, smiling widely as they watched his mother continued to tease her sister about some boy they met in the hospital. Yusuke glared at the blue-haired girl before crossing his arms, wishing for the first time since he was dead that he could talk to his sister and tell her not to date some pretty boy until he came back to life.

His sister wouldn't have anyone protecting her until he came back to life. No matter what his sister says to him, it was still his job to protect his older sister from any bastard who wants to get into her pants. His sister may be able to punch harder than him but she had no idea how the boys looked at her. Kami, it was a miracle his sister hadn't had any guys hitting on her in the past one day alone. Maybe he should stick around his sister and make sure no boy tried to lay a hand on her because he wasn't going to forgive himself if his sister was hurt.

"She's not allowed to see anyone without my approval!" Yusuke said out loud, crossing his arms as he watched Keiko enter the house, bringing bowls of ramen for his family to eat. "I'll haunt her dreams and tell her whoever that pretty boy is that he isn't good enough for her. I bet the bastard can't even throw a decent punch at me."

"You shouldn't interfere with your sister's love life!" Botan yelled and for a brief moment, Yusuke thought he saw his sister's winced. Maybe Botan's voice was so loud that even the living could hear it...if that was the case then he needed to keep her voice down because the last thing he wanted his sister to hear him. "Besides, don't you want your sister happy?"

"Of course, I want her happy but she won't be happy with a weakling," Yusuke declared. "And if I haven't met the guy or fought him then there's no way I'm letting her date the bastard."

"So your last words to your sister is that you don't want her to get hurt by the guy?" Botan asked as his sister walked towards the kitchen to bring Keiko and their mother a drink. "What about Keiko? What are your last words to her?"

"So what did the doctors say about Yusuke?" Keiko asked, drawing their attention back to her as his sister handed the girl a cup of tea.

"Well, they were surprised that bratty little brother of mine was alive!" Natsuko answered, taking a sip of her orange juice. "They said it was impossible for him to breath or even have a heart beat with the injuries he had but Yusuke proved them wrong."

"They told us that in the state Yusuke was in, he could wake up any time or be in this state forever," his mother continued, crossing her legs together as she stared at him with such a hopeful expression that Yusuke felt guilt for hurting his mother the way he did. "But I firmly believe he'll wake up soon. We're lucky Natsuko noticed that Yusuke had a heartbeat or else I would have cremated the boy...I could have killed him without knowing it."

"It won't be long that brother of mine will be here, causing terror for everyone in the school," His sister said, smiling happily. "If I know my little brother, he'll come back to life before we know it."

"Do you really think he'll come back to life?" Keiko asked, looking at his sister with so much doubt that Yusuke wanted to shake the girl for it. Didn't Keiko know by now that his sister doesn't say anything she didn't mean? And didn't she have more trust in him? He was going to come back to life and go back to annoying her the way he always did.

"Of course Keiko, Yusuke has something worth coming back for," His sister said, glancing at his floating body as if she knew he was really there watching them. "If it isn't to annoy the hell out of me by frightening any guy who shows a remote interest in me then it'll to annoy you...after all, he always did love annoying you."

Keiko tensed at his sister's words before nodding her head. If it weren't for the fact they had known each other since they were in preschool, Yusuke would have been fooled by Keiko's smile but he knew the smile on Keiko's face was the smile she gave when she didn't really believe in her sister's words. Her sister may have been fooled by Keiko's words but Yusuke knew better.

"She should know Natsuko-neechan doesn't lie about these things!" Yusuke yelled as he watched Keiko handed his sister the schoolwork she missed before rushing out of the door. He crossed his arms and gritted his teeth. "If she doesn't believe in Natsuko-neechan then I'll find a way to make her know that I'm going to come back! And if that isn't enough, I'll go to Natsuko-neechan and tell her not to date any bastards without my approval."

"So your last words to Keiko is that you want to see her again and your last words to your sister not to date any shady guys right?"

"That's right!"

Botan nodded her head and wrote it down on her notepad. "Okay, I've got it."

Yusuke blinked his eyes as he realized what Botan had just told him. "Last words? What do you mean by last words?"

"Actually, today is the day you leave the both of them," Botan explained, closing her notebook.

"DOESN'T THAT MEAN I'M REALLY DEAD?" Yusuke yelled, grabbing Botan by her kimono before glancing at the fading form of Keiko before glancing at his sister, who was furrowing her eyebrows as she looked down at the homework given to her by Keiko.

"Hold it! Don't get so agitated!" Botan yelled right back, pushing the ghost from her. "Before you revive, you can't talk to Keiko or Natsuko! It's in the rules!"

Yusuke released the girl and furrowed his eyebrows. "Rules?"

"Right," Botan sighed. "The one taking the test can't in his test period communicate with any of his close ones in the ninegenkai through spiritual methods. Today is the last day of communication."

Yusuke bristled at the girl's words. "You should have told me this earlier!"

"Okay!"

"Then...how can I talk to Natsuko-neechan or Keiko? When they're asleep...from the movies Natsuko-neechan used to watch, ghosts can appear in people's dream," Yusuke said, crossing his arms.

Botan scrunched her eyebrows. "I doubt your sister or Keiko would believe the dream if you told them that...they might think it's a dream. In this case, you need to borrow someone's body to greet your sister and Keiko. Only like this can you talk to the both of them."

"I see!" Yusuke slammed his fist against the palm of his hand. "So I just need to posses somebody's body isn't it? Anybody is eligible?"

"No," Botan answered, flickering her eyes towards his sister. "There were two candidates for the task but well, one of them was surprisingly quickly denied but it was understandable since she is your sister...so we went with the next strongest spirtual power...a friend of yours."

"A friend...is there such a thing?"

For some reason, Yusuke didn't like the idea on who he had to posses to talk to his family.

* * *

Natsuko closed her books and walked towards the living room, where she could see her mother sprawled on the

floor. Her mother was clinging to Yusuke as if he was the only thing keeping her from falling down and maybe he was because Yusuke was still her child, was still her flesh and blood and Natsuko knew from her own experience that her kids kept her going on when things were tough. Shaking her head, Natsuko made her way towards her bedroom and grabbed her blankets from her bed before going back to the living room to place it back on her mother.

Looking back at her mother's sleeping face, Natsuko thought back of her own experiences with her kids. When her son died, he had been an eighty-year-old man surrounded by his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and her. She had known her son was going to die but it had hurt her to watch her own flesh and blood die before her. The whole time he died, her previous self couldn't help but wish that it had been her to die and not her son.

Though compared to some shinobis, her son had died a better death than other people had.

 _Ring. Ring._

Natsuko blinked her eyes and looked at the door before glancing at her sleeping mother. It looked like her mother wasn't going to wake up until tomorrow, which made sense since her mother spent the whole night yesterday crying tears of joy at the fact she heard her brother's heartbeat.

Licking her dried lips, Natsuko glided her way towards the door and opened the door to see her brother's friend standing in front of her. She opened her mouth to ask him why he was here but there was something about the way Kuwabara looked that made her think something was wrong. In fact, she could sense something wasn't right about the boy. The energy around the boy didn't feel like his energy...if anything, Natsuko would say it was her brother's energy.

That couldn't be possible because surely the spirit world was against possession of a human body.

"Kuwabara...why the hell are you here?"

"I'm not Kuawbara!" He yelled, crossing his arms the way Yusuke used to do whenever she teased him by changing his name. "It's me Yusuke!"

"Yusuke?" Natsuko raised her eyebrows. "Do ya think I was born yesterday? You can't be Yusuke because my brother is currently in a coma."

"It's hard to explain Natsuko-neechan! But believe me, when I say I'm Yusuke."

"Prove it!"

"How the hell do you want me to prove it?"

"A couple of months ago, Yusuke came to school with a limp in his leg," Natsuko said, leaning against one foot. "My brother told everyone in school that he got into a fight and barely survived the attack but only three people know the truth about how he got it. If you're really Yusuke, tell me how did you get it."

He scowled at her and Natsuko knew from a number of times she held it over her brother that this boy might just be who he was claiming to be. After all, only her mother, Yusuke and her knew just how her brother went to school with a limp in his leg.

"You beat me up because you found out I was trying to find your diary," he muttered. "But I'll get you back for it, Natsuko-neechan! That will be the only time you beat me…"

He faltered when Natsuko hugged him. Her brother hesitated before hugging her back, letting her soak in his warmth. It had been a day since her brother left them but for Natsuko, it felt like her brother had been gone for years and only now she had the chance to hug him again. Once she was done hugging him, Natsuko slammed her fist against his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"What was that for? You went and got yourself killed you baka," Natsuko yelled, causing the boy to falter. "Do you know how hard it was for Mum and me when we found out you died to protect a little boy? Mum hasn't stopped crying since she found out you were dead and the only reason why she stopped now was because I found a heartbeat in your body. Do you know how hard it was to comfort her while trying to keep myself together? Well, do you have anything to say for yourself."

"You're never going to find a boyfriend if you keep acting like that," her brother said, earning an eyeroll from the blonde. "And I know Natsuko-neechan...I've been watching Kaa-chan and you the whole time I was dead. I'm sorry for making you go through this but I'm going to come back home to you and Kaa-chan."

"Yusuke…"

"Tell Mum I'm going to come back home and that I'm happy she stopped drinking," her brother said, licking his lips. "And Natsuko-neechan, I don't care how pretty that boy is, I'm not going to let you date him unless he can beat me in a fight! And I doubt a pretty boy like him can actually beat me so I hope you don't mind being a spinster."

"Who the hell says I need your permission to go on a date!" Natsuko said, giving him a smile before glancing at her mother's sleeping form. "You know I can pick guys really well! And I'm not dating a guy who can't beat you in a fight. Now about Mum, you can tell her yourself. I'll go wake her up and you can tell her that you're going to come back."

Her brother shook her head. "I can't...I've a limited amount of time in this body so I need to go see Keiko and tell her to wait for me."

"So you finally admitted you've feelings for her," Natsuko said, grinning. "My oh my, my little brother is growing up! It won't be long before I've to plan your wedding to Keiko!"

"Natsuko-neechan! And I haven't admitted anything!"

"Whatever you say, Yusuke," she said, giving him one last hug before he made his way to Keiko. "But Yusuke, I want you to know that if you die on me for the second time and before me, I'm going to kick your ass to the next century and you can bet your ass when you come back to life that I'm going to teach you lesson on why you shouldn't die on me."

"Y'know you can't kick my ass if I'm dead again right?"

"I'll find a way to kick your ass," Natsuko said firmly. "So that's why you shouldn't die on me for the second time. Now get the hell out of here and see that girlfriend of yours."

Her brother laughed before running away from the apartment, no doubt searching for his beloved childhood friend. Something told her that her brother's life was going to get more interesting after this and that she needed to prepare her brother for the worse when he came back to life. Kami, she hoped that Enma wasn't actually going to put her brother in danger because if he did then Enma was going to answer her.

No one was safe from her wrath.

* * *

 **Q:** What will Natsuko end up being?

 **A:** Natsuko will end up being a powerful human being that has the characteristic of Ashura and still have the powers that Naruto had in the original manga except, of course she would have more knowledge on sealing.

 **Q:** Is Natsuko stronger then Yusuke?

 **A:** Yes, Natsuko is stronger then Yusuke especially in the beginning since she still have most of her abilities, the only thing she does not contain as hinted in the past two chapters is Kurama and the other tail beasts but, other then that she still have her original powers.

* * *

 **A/N: Please review**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed as well as to everyone who added this story to their favourites and follows.**

* * *

No one forgot about her actions towards their teacher during her brother's suppsed wake, Natsuko mused to herself, as she glanced at her fellow students, who all gulped and looked away from her. Some of them even flinched at her when she locked her eyes on them while a couple of them squealed and run away from her. Some of the boys who used to annoy her with their attention just paled and looked away from her, muttering a quick hello before rushing off to their homeroom.

It should piss her off they were treating her like she was a monster but Natsuko was just too tired to care about what people thought about her. Naru Uzumaki cared about what people thought of her, no Naru Uzumaki always wanted people's attention and adoration but Natsuko didn't want that. As Naru, she wanted attention because she didn't have anyone to shower her with love but Natsuko had her brother to annoy her and show her he cared.

Shaking her head, Natsuko looked up at the sky and smiled at the sight of her little brother floating in the air with his arms right behind his back as the pretty shinigami talked to him about something. It had been two weeks since he talked to her and very rarely did her little brother leave her alone. If she didn't know how complicated it would be to explain why she could see him, Natsuko would have called out on her little brother and asked him how long it would take for him to come back to life.

"Urameshi-senpai, you're back in school."

Blinking her eyes, Natsuko twisted her body around and smiled at the sight of Kuwabara and his gang, who all were staring at her in surprise. She didn't know why they were surprised she was back in school, her brother's supposed death did hurt her but Natsuko knew better than to avoid going to school for any longer. If she kept avoiding going to school then everyone would think she was a weak crybaby and if there was one thing Natsuko was not, it was a crybaby.

"You sound so surprise that I'm back in school," Natsuko said to them, pressing her hand into her skirt's pocket as the four boys walked towards her. "I lost my brother but it doesn't mean I should avoid school forever does it?"

"But the teachers talked shit about your brother, Urameshi-senpai!" Kirishima said, looking at her as if she was crazy for coming to school after that event.

Natsuko gritted her teeth at the reminder but kept her voice even as she said, "I know but I can't avoid going to school. Besides I need to be on my best behaviour if I want those assholes to write me a good recommendation letter for me to go to a good high school."

"Urameshi-senpai…" The other boys said.

"The bastard was an asshole to leave you like this," Kuwabara said.

Natsuko couldn't help but smile at the boy's words before finally saying, "Yes he was but I woulda done the same thing to save that little boy. My brother sacrificed his life for a little boy and if that wasn't the most selfless thing he ever did in his life then I don't know what is."

They gazed at her as if they didn't know what to think of her. Maybe they expected her to cry for the loss of her brother but Natsuko knew her brother was going to come back home to them and do all the things that annoyed her. He would go back to trying to read her fake diary before giving the evil eye to any of the boys who dared to look her way. It wouldn't be long before he would try to look at Keiko's underwear, which would earn a slap from said girl while Natsuko would hit him in the head for his actions.

She couldn't wait for him to come back and for them to resume their normal routines.

"You guys should head to class," Natsuko said, gazing up at the sky. "And one word of advice, you should be on your guard now that my little brother isn't here."

"Why?" Kuwabara asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Natsuko looked at the school building, where she could see their teachers watching them through the windows. Most of the teachers looked shock to see her talking to Kuwabara, which made sense since she rarely talked to the boy, while her science and math teacher looked unsurprised at the fact she was talking to him. No doubt, those two assholes thought she was a delinquent since she punched the pair of them in her brother's wake.

Looking back, Natsuko would have done it in a heartbeat.

"Because you guys are targets for those assholes we call senseis," Natsuko explained, running her hands through her hair. "Before they nitpicked my brother, calling him all those names for all his bad habits when they didn't given know him. They thought my brother dying to save the boy raised the school's name...I think those teachers would do everything in power to improve the school, even resorting to underhand methods to do it."

"So you're telling us to be on our guard?" Kirishima asked.

Natsuko nodded her head. "You guys are decent people but if you keep getting into fights, those teachers would do something drastic to get rid of you guys. If you could deny my brother was dead in his funeral and wished he was alive, makes me think you're a decent person."

"You didn't think we were decent before?" Kuwabara yelled, looking put down at her words.

The blonde laughed. "I didn't know you guys so I didn't know what to think of you guys. Y'know I was Yusuke's sister so I knew better to think that every guy who got into fights were bad people...besides unlike our teachers, I know people sometimes can't help but fight especially when they need to defend yourself. Yusuke...Yusuke loves to fight, maybe it was because I taught him how to fight."

"Wait a second...Urameshi learnt how to fight from you?" Kuwabara asked, looking at her in disbelief.

Natsuko nodded. "Who else do you think taught him? You think he suddenly became good in fighting? I've been teaching that bratty brother of mine how to fight ever since he came back home from pre-school with a bruised cheek. I couldn't fight his battles so I made him learn how to fight his...since our father couldn't teach him how to defend him."

With those words, she left the four boys and made her way towards her homeroom. Did they really find it surprising she could fight? Who did they think taught Yusuke how to fight? Their mother used to be too busy getting drunk or demanding money from some poor bastard, who tried to borrow money from her. Their father? That bastard left her and her brother when she was five.

He never earned a single damn money till now. Their father was still the irresponsible man that he had been when he left them. Natsuko gritted her teeth as she remembered the state she found the man was in when she informed his only real child was dead. He didn't even have the decency to cover that woman's body with a bedsheet when he let her in the house.

The only damn redeeming thing about the man was the fact he cried when she told him about Yusuke's death.

How the hell did her mother ended up going out with that bastard Natsuko didn't want to know but she did know her mother deserved better than her biological father. Honestly, she didn't think she could find anyone with a worse taste in men then her mother though Sakura was worse. Her friend still wanted to date Sasuke even though he nearly killed her, even though he made it quite clear he didn't return her feelings.

In the end, Sakura married Lee and gave birth to a son, who looked and acted too much like his father.

It used to drive Sasuke nuts how the boy would chase after their daughter, asking her out on a date and refusing to give up when her daughter made it quite clear she didn't return his feelings. Natsuko smiled sadly as she placed her bag on her chair. Her daughter was just like her father when it came to being too blunt for her own good and being too cold to anyone she didn't like. Yes, her daughter had too much of her father in her personality even though she looked so much like her.

It was a miracle her daughter settled down.

One day, Natsuko thought as she closed her eyes to soak in the images of her previous, she was going to see her kids in the spirit world and make sure they hadn't been causing trouble...though knowing her youngest son, it was possible. If it was possible, Natsuko thought, she want to see Konoha again and see any descendants of hers.

Maybe when Yusuke came back to life, Natsuko would try to find a way to visit the spirit world.

* * *

"You left Yusuke with your mother?" Keiko asked her during breaktime, looking at her with such wide eyes that Natsuko couldn't help but think the girl looked so harmless when she stared at her. Don't ever judge a book by its cover, she reminded herself as she remembered the amount of times the girl had been able to send her brother flying with a slap form her hand. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Aren't you worried she's going to leave him alone in the house while she go and get drinks?"

"Keiko even though my mother is an irresponsible person, she isn't so irresponsible to leave Yusuke by himself," Natsuko said firmly, opening her lunch box. "Besides even if she did leave Yusuke by himself in the house, what could he do?"

"He can come back anytime," Keiko pointed out to her.

Natsuko smiled. "And when he comes back home, Yusuke will make it obvious to everyone that he's alive. Trust me Keiko, when Yusuke comes back to life I'll know."

"How do you know?"

"Cuz I'm his sister," Natsuko lied, taking a bite of the frog-shaped rice she made. "And I know if my baby brother is truly gone or not...I know if he's hanging around us or not."

"Really?"

"Have I ever lied to you about anything Keiko?"

"Plenty of times," Keiko retorted, causing the blonde to laugh. "You lied to me about where Yusuke used to run off to when he was skipping school. You lied to Yusuke and me about not getting into fights when really, you were cleaning up after Yusuke's mess. You lied about not being angry with Atsuko-san when you are really angry with her. You always lie."

"If I told Yusuke I was cleaning up after his mess, the brat would have gone and picked another fight with them because he thought they hurt me!" Natsuko pointed out. "Besides, how the hell did you find out I've been in fights? I never got a single bruise on me or even a speck of dirt...so how did the two of you found out?"

"Didn't Yusuke tell you that he was called out by one of the boys who you beat up? Everyone thought he was calling out for him but instead the guy brought roses for you," Natsuko blinked her eyes at this news, "Yusuke blew it and beat the guy right in front of the teachers."

"Why don't I remember that? And seriously, why the hell did Yusuke beat the guy up? Did he think I would go out with a boy he got into a fight with?" Natsuko wrinkled her nose. "Besides, I've no interest in going out with anyone especially with a guy who brought me roses...I don't like roses, it's too predictable. No, if a guy wants to give me flowers then he should try to find out what I like and try to get to know me."

"Any decent guy who wants to go out with you are too terrified of your brother to ask you out," Keiko said.

Natsuko shook her head. "If they're terrified of my baby brother then there's no point of me dating them. I'm not dating a sissy."

"When you talk like that, I can really see how Yusuke is your brother," Keiko said, smiling at her words. "Yusuke would say the same thing whenever I asked him why he couldn't just leave you and your dating life alone. He never let you have a chance to go on dates."

The blonde smiled at Keiko's words and gazed at the floating figure of her little brother, who just had a wide smile at his best-friends words. If her little brother truly had a say, Natsuko had no doubt Yusuke would never let her date until she was old and wrinkled. He never did like the idea of sharing her attention with another guy. That was the way he had always been. From the moment her little brother could walk, he followed her around and even though he was still dead, her little brother was still watching her.

No matter what Yusuke say, Natsuko knew her little brother wanted to make sure everyone in their family was safe.

"You know now that Yusuke isn't going to be back for a while, you should take the chance and go out on a couple of dates," Keiko said, smiling.

Natsuko snorted. "And who wants to go on a date with me? If I hadn't punched those asshole of a teacher, I might have guys asking me out but now I think no one sane enough will go out with me after that."

"The teachers deserved it," Keiko said firmly, earning a raised eyebrow from the blonde, "Why are you giving me that look Natsuko? They were insulting your brother when they said he was bullying the little boy...if you've kept your cool after hearing that, I would be surprised. Even though you did those things, there are still guys out there who wouldn't mind dating you. You should think about it...you deserve to act like your age and do things without worrying about Yusuke and Atsuko."

Even if she didn't have to worry about her mother and Yusuke, Natsuko never ever thought about boys. Why would she? She had been married once and that had been enough for her. She married her best friend, married the one person besides Kurama who understood her. There was no one in this world who could be like that to ber. Besides while some boys might not mind dating her but Natsuko didn't know if she could love them the way they deserved. The name on her birth certificate may be Urameshi Natsuko but Natsuko still saw herself as Uzumaki Naru, the Seventh Hokage, the saviour of the Shinobi World, Kurama's Jinchuuriki and the wife of Sasuke Uchiha. Her husband may be dead, may not have been reincarnated like she had been but Natsuko still loved the man...even if he did act like an asshole.

If she dated someone, wasn't she betraying Sasuke? This may be her clean slate but Natsuko couldn't let go of her life with him, the three beautiful kids they had or their childhood memories. Sasuke wasn't ever going to come back to her, Natsuko knew that from the times she argued with Enma to let her husband join her that her husband's sins were too great for him to be considered to go to heaven, let alone reincarnation. He could never come back and annoy the hell out of her but a part of her still hoped he would come back to her.

A part of her wanted a familiar place in this world because no matter how much she adored her brother, Keiko and even the woman who gave birth to her physical body, Natsuko wanted someone who understood the life she had before.

"I'll think about it Keiko," Natsuko finally said, looking up at the sky. "But I'll make no promises about going on dates until Yusuke is here...knowing my little brother, he'll stalk me and think of ways to ruin my relationship with the guy."

"And if he does that then Atsuko and me will straighten him up!" Keiko said, smiling widely at her. "You deserve to get a break from everything."

As soon as Keiko finished saying those words to her, the school bell rung which told Natsuko more then anything that it was time for her to go back to lessons, where she would no doubt be subjected by the judgemental gazes of her teachers.

Why the hell did she decide to go to school today when she had to deal with those assholes, she didn't know but she did know she needed to face them sooner or later.

* * *

When the school bell rung for the final time today, Natsuko barely waited for the teacher to dismiss her before she rushed out of the door with her bag behind her back. She couldn't stand being in school for another minute with those assholes just staring at her with fear or have the teachers eye her wearily, no doubt waiting for her to explode and take their revenge against her for her punch.

It was amazing how just one punch could change her teaches' perception of her but those teachers had no heart. They were no better than those delinquents they wished to punish, heck her teachers were worse then them because they had no understanding of her pain. They had no sympathy for her loss, for the pain her family felt when they had to stare at her brother's motionless body.

People who had no sympathy for the loss of a kid didn't deserve to be teachers if you asked Natsuko.

Taking in a deep breath, the blonde made her way towards her favourite bookstore where she could hopefully find some of the mangas her brother loved to read. When Yusuke came back, there was no doubt her little brother was going to catch up with all the things he missed and love, which included reading his favourite manga. If she didn't want him to waste his pocket money on something useless then Natsuko had to buy those manga of his and keep them by his bedside.

Nodding her head, Natsuko pressed her hand in her skirt's pocket and pushed the door opened to reveal the old bookstore owner reading a magazine while his staff tried to put all the books back in order. All of them stopped what they were doing when they saw her and greeted her with a smile before resuming back to work. The old man still hadn't looked up from his magazine and only stopped reading it, when she lightly tapped the counter to get his attention.

"Natsuko-chan! It's Monday!" The old man said, blinking his eyes. "What made you come here doing a Monday? Don't tell me ya finish those exercise books again, brat! It took me a while to order those!"

She shook her head at the old man. "I'm not here for test prep books...I'm here for manga, y'know the ones Yusuke used to love to read and buy behind my back while I brought his test prep books. I started to read the first volume and well I need to get the new volumes before I can read them."

"Ya want to buy them?" The old man asked, looking at her in disbelief. "Shouldn't ya read your brother's mangas before buying the latest volumes Natsuko? Cuz, it makes no sense for ya to buy them if you found out you don't like it."

"I won't hate the manga!" Natsuko said. "Please old man, tell me where you put the manga sections. I won't hate the manga since it was Yusuke's favourite manga."

The old man looked into her blue eyes and pinched his nose before gesturing to the bookshelves on his right, where books were proudly displayed. She raised her eyebrow at him. The old man rolled his eyes and pointed to the back of the selves. She grinned at the old man before rushing towards the manga section, wondering if she still remembered which manga her little brother loved to read. It had something to do with wrestling as far as Natsuko could remember.

 _Thud._

Rubbing her head, Natsuko looked up to see what she hit and blinked her eyes when she caught sight of a familiar red-haired boy. How on earth could she keep running to the same person in a matter of weeks? Natsuko couldn't help but ask herself, gazing at the bright green eyes that belonged to Shuuichi. If she had been any other girl, she might considered it fate but Natsuko didn't believe in fate but she did know coincidence did exist.

"It seemed like we keep running into each other, Natsuko-san," Shuuichi said, giving her a smile as he lent her his hand to pull her up. "Why have you came to the bookstores?"

"I didn't realize I have to have a reason to come here," Natsuko said, rubbing her head. "It isn't like I'm stalking you or anything stupid like that, I just came here to buy a couple of manga. How the hell was I supposed to know you would be here? And what the hell are you made of? For someone who looks like a girl, your chest is rock hard."

He raised his eyebrows at her and stated dryly, "Just because I look like a girl, doesn't mean I'll have the body of one."

"Ya think I don't know the difference between the body of a man and a woman? What do I look like? An idiot!" She asked him, dusting the dust off of her clothes. "I'm not insulting your manhood or anything but you kinda look fragile, like a good punch could knock you down without any problem."

"I'm a lot stronger than I look Natsuko-san," The boy said, looking amused at her words.

She rubbed her head. "Ya I see that now. Seriously, what do ya do to be that hard? I swear not even my little brother's body is hard as yours and let me tell ya that little brother of mine has a lot of muscles for a boy his age. Not that I know how much muscles boys his age should have. I mean it isn't like I take the time to observe guys' muscles because that would be very weird but...well most guys would try to show off their chest."

"You'll find Natsuko-san not all boys are like that," Shuuichi said, causing the blonde to laugh nervously at him. "And may you answer my question on what brought you here to the bookstore?"

"I'm here to buy my brother's favourite manga," Natsuko explained, gesturing to the bookshelves on his right. "I don't know when he's going to wake up but I know when he wakes up he would want to catch up on all the mangas he missed."

"So you came straight from school to buy it?" The boy asked, blinking his eyes.

She nodded. "Yeah...I can't go back home just yet. I mean if I go back home then I'll have to do my homework for my asshole teachers and I'll give my mother the opportunity to go outside and go back to her bad habits. I don't want to do my homework just yet and I don't want my mum to go back to those terrible habits of hers...so I came here."

"Why don't you hang out with your friends?"

"Why are you always by yourself?"

He quirked his lips. "You're avoiding the question."

"Y'know I don't feel comfortable answering your question," Natsuko answered, flickering her eyes at the shop owner, who was staring at them with wide eyes. "But if you must know my friends are assholes. When my brother supposedly 'died', they didn't try to comfort me...they just gave their apologizes and said behind my back they were glad my little brother was dead. I can't stand assholes who lie behind my back and as much as I want to punch them in the face, I'll get into trouble...so I'll just have to ignore them."

He blinked his eyes at her, looking surprised at her admission but Natsuko didn't see the point of her making a lie to him. No matter who the hell she was, Natsuko was still an honest person to a point. She would never tell her mother or brother the truth about herself. She could never tell them she wasn't used to the name Natsuko and that no matter how many times they called her Natsuko, she couldn't help but look for another person.

In her core, Natsuko was still Uzumaki Naru.

"You can't expect everyone to tell you the truth," Shuuichi finally said as the two of them walked towards the manga section. "Have you always told the truth to people?"

"No but that's because it'll hurt people's feelings," Natsuko admitted, narrowing her eyes as she tried to find her brother's favourite manga. "But if they were going to talk about my baby brother behind my back then they shouldn't bother to go to his wake...it's disrespectful to my family. He may have been an ass to them but he was my bratty brother who I loved and adored."

"You talk about your brother in the past tense," Shuuichi pointed out as she grabbed her brother's favourite manga from the shelf beside him. "You said yesterday you think he's going to wake up yet you talk about him as if he is already dead."

She smiled. "The best case scenario is that he wakes up soon but the worse case scenario is that my brother stays in a coma forever...which means he's essentially dead. I want him to live, to come back and annoy the hell out of me and while I know my little bratty brother is a fighter, I also know the chances are slim especially with his personality."

The red-head raised his eyebrow. "You know sisters shouldn't be saying these things about their brothers. You're suppose to say there's a huge chance of him coming back."

"Oh, I know I have, to say that but Shuuichi, you've never met my brother when he's awake," Natsuko pointed out, grinning. "If there's such thing as god, I know my little brother would find some way to piss him off. He has never taken well to authorities. That's enough about me and my brother...do you have any siblings, Shuuichi?"

He stared at her for a good couple of seconds before shaking his head. "I'm an only child I'm afraid. My father died when I was really young, it's only just recently my mother decided to put herself out there in the dating world but only after my insistence."

"You're a good son, some kids won't allow their parents to date," Natsuko said, remembering how her grandchildren reacted when her youngest son decided to date again after his wife's death. "How did her boyfriend react when he found out your mother was ill?"

"He spends almost every waking hour whenever he has the time," Shuuichi admitted, earning a smile from the blonde. "He hasn't given up hope that my mother will become better and I even caught him a couple of times crying whenever he thought I wasn't looking."

"Your mother found a wonderful man to date," Natsuko said, giving him a smile. "I hope my mother will get the same luck if she ever decides to find a good man to date but knowing her taste in men, the chances are very low."

"Bad taste in men?" Shuuichi asked as she walked towards the counter.

Natsuko snorted. "Bad taste? That's an understatement...all the men she dated had been assholes, including our father. What the hell she found nice about the man I can't understand. He's an asshole who doesn't even bother to attend his son's funeral, an asshole who doesn't bother to check up on us."

"So you're calling him an asshole for not attending his son's funeral and never checking on the two of you?" Shuuichi asked her.

She nodded her head. "I get he was upset but it woulda been nice if he saw my brother's body, if he apologize to Yusuke for not being there in his life. I never cared about him not being in my life, having Yusuke and my mother was enough for me but it wasn't the same for Yusuke. Yusuke doesn't remember it but I remember how he clung to our father as he left the house for one last time, begging him to stay but the bastard never looked back and left. He doesn't even bother to earn money, forcing mother to find ways to pay the rent while using his girlfriends to get money. He's a terrible man."

"You're very open aren't you?" Shuuichi asked her, quirking his lips at her. "We just met yet you're telling me things you shouldn't be telling strangers."

"I've nothing to hide from you," Natsuko answered, putting the manga on the counter. "Besides, everyone in my neighbourhood knows about my feelings towards my father and the kind of man he is. I'm not ashamed to admit what kind of man he is but you'll never see me call the bastard to his face father."

Shuuichi stared at her as if he was trying to see through her words before nodding his head. He was the type to always try to see through people's actions, Natsuko thought wearily as she paid the shopowner for the manga, it was a good trait for a shinobi to have but a teenager? It wasn't something she thought a teenagers would do. Perhaps, he was an old man stuck in a young boy's body just like she was a woman stuck in her teenager form.

Glancing at her watch, Natsuko decided she needed to go back home and check on her mother and brother. If her mother left Yusuke alone in the house then the blonde was going to have a few words with the woman about her behaviour. She was getting too tired with dealing with the woman's trouble especially now that there was a chance her little brother might have entered a deal without knowing the price he had made.

"I need to get back home," Natsuko said, giving the boy a smile. "It was good talking to you, well I guess I ranted about my life but I really needed to give a rant and it isn't like you're going to tell anyone important about my feelings."

"You've just met me yet you trust me?" Shuuichi asked, looking faintly amused at her words.

She grinned. "I know when to tell someone is bad and trust me when I tell ya that I don't think ya a bad guy who is going to take advantage of me. My brother might think I don't know how men look at me but I do and I know how to throw a mean punch so if you try anything Shuuichi, I'll punch you."

"I'll take your word for it," He said, quirking his lips at her.

She pouted. "You don't think I can throw a mean punch do ya? Well, I'll show ya Shuuichi...later, right now I've to get home to my mother and brother."

With those words, she left him alone in the bookstore.

* * *

"Shuuichi, you've been inside the bookstore longer then usual," his mother said to him when he came back from the bookstore with the books his mother loved to read. Kurama blinked his eyes, uncertain what to tell his human mother. Did he tell her he had been talking to a girl? If he told her about Natsuko then the woman might jump to conclusions about his acquaintance with the girl and if anything happens to him, his mother might tell Natsuko. He didn't know the girl well but he would admit he enjoyed the few short talks they had.

However, if he told his mother he had been talking to a girl then his mother might just be happy and the one thing Shuuichi wanted was for his mother to be happy.

"I've been talking to a girl," Kurama said, watching carefully as his mother blink her eyes at his admission before smiling widely at him. "I seem to be meeting her a lot these days."

"What is she like?" His mother asked, smiling. "Is she pretty? Tell me all about her Shuuichi! How did you guys meet the first time?"

Kurama sighed and sat down on the chair as he gazed at his mother. "Her name is Urameshi Natsuko, and she's a blunt girl mother, who cares very much for her brother and mother and is a very kind girl...and yes she's very pretty, mother. She's one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen."

He wasn't lying when he said Natsuko was very pretty. Kurama was many things but blind wasn't one of them. With her long blond hair, whisker marks, big blue eyes and pouty lips, he had no doubt the girl had many boys trying to ask her out. It didn't help she seemed to be a very nice, honest person who hold too much trust in people. The girl told him so many things that she shouldn't be telling to strangers.

"How did you meet her, Shuuichi?" His mother asked, clapping her hands together as she looked at him eagerly to tell him the story of his first meeting.

He smiled at his mother's eagerness as he grabbed the apple from the fruit bowl. Grabbing the nearby knife, he started to peel the fruit as he tried to figure out if he should make it look more romantic for his mother's sake or if he should make it more truthful. If anything happened to him, his mother would go search for Natsuko and knowing his mother the way he did, his mother might jump to the conclusion about the feelings he had for the girl.

She would mistake his feelings of curiosity for love while Natsuko would just look confused, which would make his mother more confused and even hurt.

No, Kurama wasn't going to let his mother feel hurt.

"I helped her to get a book that she needed to prepare for her test," Kurama said, handing his mother the peeled apples. "And I met her again in the hospital with her mother."

"Why was she in the hospital?" His mother asked, nibbling the peeled apple.

Kurama sighed as he knew his mother would want to know everything that was happening in the girl's life. "Her little brother was in a car accident and the doctors declared he was dead but they found a heartbeat so they wanted to know what to do. From what she told me, her brother has a chance of waking up or remaining in a coma. "

His mother nodded her head, placed her hands on her laps and said, "They're lucky her brother has a chance of waking. Her mother must be happy to know her son has a chance of living...kami I can't imagine the grief her mother must have went through when she got the news about her son. That would be a mother's worse nightmare..."

"Mother?"

"Losing a child isn't easy for any parent," His mother said, giving him a sad smile. "It feels worse than dying for a parent...you'll understand once you've your own children."

He won't ever have children, Kurama wanted to tell his mother as he thought about the recent plans he made with Hiei and Goki in stealing those artefacts. If everything went according to plan then in a month's time, he would exchange his life for his mother. It would hurt his mother he was gone but his mother would eventually get over it.

He would rather prefer she lived then for him to live without his mother, without the woman who protected him when she didn't have to.

* * *

 **Q: When will Yusuke find out about Natsuko's past life?**

A: He will find out during the Dark Tournament but how he'll find out is a surprise.

 **Q: Will Natsuko have Demon Powers like Yusuke does?**

A: She has the potential but as of yet I've decided against it but if you can convince me otherwise then it'll stay that way.

 **Q: Will Natsuko have access to some of the jinchuuriki transformation?**

A: You'll have to wait and see.

 **A/N: Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter, especially about the relationship between Natsuko and Kurama.**


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a month since her baby brother died and left her to deal with their mother, leaving a hole in her heart. It might have been a month but to Natsuko it felt only like yesterday since the principal told her about her brother's death. It felt only like yesterday when he rushed into the apartment, possessing his friend's body and telling her he was going to come back to them. Even though she knew her brother was coming back, she couldn't help but stare at her brother's motionless body with doubt. Even though she could still see her brother, could feel his presence in the house but Natsuko had her doubts of her baby brother coming back to her.

Her brother had no respect for authorities which was a problem in a situation like his. Enma could took away Yusuke's chance of revival if he felt Yusuke didn't deserve it since the bastard didn't like disrespect. Natsuko licked her dried lips and twirled her pen around her finger as she remembered the number of times she begged the diety to let Sasuke go to heaven to be with their family. If Yusuke does anything that Enma doesn't like then Natsuko know that the bastard would make sure her brother would never come back to the living world.

If he couldn't forgive Sasuke, who spent most of his life reprenting his sins, then there was little chance of her brother being forgiven by Enma.

Shaking her head, Natsuko scribbled the notes that her history teacher wrote on the board, before glancing out at the window, where she could see her brother staring at her and then blankly at the board. Just a few more weeks, she thought to herself, clenching her hands into a fist. She needed to last a few more weeks. A few more weeks of keeping her mouth shut, she reminded herself, glancing at the blackboard, where a problem was set out for them to solve.

The spirit world could not know she remembered everything.

"Urameshi, do question 6!" Iwamoto said, snapping her out of her train thought.

Natsuko smiled tightly, pushed her chair away from the desk and slowly made her way towards the blackboard. She tilted her head and stared at the question given to her before glancing at Iwamoto, who had a sneer on his face. Was the man still pissed she punched him in the face? Natsuko wondered as she did the working out for the question. If he was angry then the bastard was being an irrational bastard because out of everyone, she was supposed to be the angry one.

He insulted her baby brother on his wake.

"Is this the answer, Iwamoto-sensei?" Natsuko asked, putting the chalk down on the blackboard.

Iwamoto pursed his lips, stared at the blackboard and then at her before giving her a scowl that told her more than anything that he hated her for getting the answer right. I _dealt with teachers like you all of my life_ , Natsuko thought as she made her way back to her seat, _I know how to get you guys to shut up_. Yusuke would have complained about the question given to him and would probably have tried to get a fight with Iwamoto because of the unfairness of the question. However, Natsuko wasn't her brother.

She knew the best way to shut bastards like Iwamoto was to get better grades then they expected.

Taking her seat, Natsuko grabbed her notebook from her bag and flipped it open but not before placing a small seal on the notebook. This seal would hopefully make it seem like it was just another notebook filled with notes and not a notebook filled with her writing down her thoughts and memories of her past life. She would hate for her teacher to know her thoughts.

Which memory should she write next? She wondered, looking at the last entry she placed in her book. Should she describe the last full-blown fight she had with Sasuke? Or should she described her missions? Which one should she do? If she wanted to write a book about her past life then she needed every single detail in there. She wasn't going to make up some fake detail about her life. No, she was going to make the story as truthful as it could be.

After all, she knew if she wanted the book to be authentic then the truth must be told.

She glanced out of the window, noticing for the first time that Yusuke was talking to some black-haired woman while the blue-haired shinigami smiled widely. What the hell was happening? She wondered, tilting her head at them. Her eyes widened when the black-haired woman twisted her head around and stared at her.

The black-haired shinigami pursed her lips and glanced at Yusuke before looking back at her. The recognition in the shinigami's face told Natsuko that the woman knew who she was. Shit. Was she going to tell Enma about her? Wait, no Enma knew she was reincarnated. The problem was going to be Koenma. The toddler was going to ask her why she changed her mind and why his father kept it a secret from him.

Rubbing her temple, Natsuko focused her attention on the board, where Iwamoto had placed a new set of notes for them to copy. Scribbing her notes down, the blonde made sure her eyes never wandered towards the window, towards her brother and the new shinigami. If she wanted to avoid any trouble with the spirit world then she needed to act as if she didn't know what the hell was happening.

Still, why was another shinigami here? Natsuko wondered, writing down the answer of the next set of answers in her notebook. Did Yusuke do something stupid again? No, he couldn't have done anything since he was always watching her like the overprotective little brother that he was. Maybe there was another reason why he was being watched but hopefully, it wasn't for the worse reasons.

Shaking her head, Natsuko glanced down at her notes and reminded herself that she couldn't do anything to help Yusuke.

The living cannot interact with the dead that was the one rule that Natsuko knew she must never break.

* * *

"You're taking care of Yusuke by yourself today?" Keiko asked as they made their way to her apartment. "But what about Atsuko-san? Doesn't she realize that you have studies to worry about? What the hell is Atsuko doing tonight?"

"Working," Natsuko answered, stuffing her right hands into her pocket. "Mum found a new job that doesn't involve anyone from the underworld. If she wants to keep her job then she has to go there...at least she isn't drinking tonight."

The question was just how long her mother's sober streak going to last? She wondered, unlocking the doors and gesturing for her friend to enter the apartment. Keiko gave her a smile, slipped out of her shoes and walked towards the living room, where Yusuke's body lay. Smiling softly, Natsuko slipped out of her shoes and walked to her room, dropping her bag on the floor before walking towards Yusuke's body.

"Don't you clean your house?" Keiko asked, glancing at the pile of rubbish in the corner.

Natsuko sighed and answered, "I cleaned the house last night but Mum seemed to have messed up my hard work. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it except clean up the mess."

"Don't you ever get fed up in doing this?" Keiko asked as she placed another one of the soft drink cans into the trashcan. Natsuko just shrugged her shoulders, went over to the fridge to get some of the leftover food she made last nights. She groaned when she saw the lack of food in the fridge. There was nothing for her to eat. Heck, she couldn't even cook any food since her mother emptied the fridge.

Great, she needed to go grocery shopping.

"What's the matter, Natsuko?"

"Mum ate everything in the fridge," Natsuko answered, rubbing her temple. "Do y'know how frustrating this is? I've to go to the grocery store, which is ten minutes away, and shop for ingrediants for the food that I want to eat. Why couldn't she leave me some food? I live here too."

"Do you want me to watch over Yusuke while you go get some groceries for yourself?" Keiko asked her, glancing at her brother's sleeping body.

The blonde curled her lips and glanced at her brother's body before glancing at Yusuke, who kept shaking his head at her and yelling words like don't leave her alone with me. Well that was what Natsuko thought he meant to say because Natsuko was just reading his lips. If she was anyone else, she probably wouldn't be able to see or hear him, but she could see him and she knew he didn't want to be left alone with Keiko.

If she was a more loving sister, she would do what he wants but Natsuko couldn't be bothered to tell Keiko not to look after Yusuke.

"You'll be a godsent if you look after him," Natsuko said, smiling widely. "I'll be back in half an hour but if you want to leave earlier then that's okay."

"Natsuko, I won't leave Yusuke until you come back."

"I'm just saying in case you do leave because we both know that you have a life outside my cute little brother," Natsuko said, glancing at her brother's body. "Besides, what the worse thing that can happen? My brother can't possibly wake up now can he?"

"Natsuko, Yusuke can come back anytime," Keiko reminded her. "He said that he will come back to us."

"I know but I hope my baby brother will give me a warning when he does because I want to make sure I prepare his favourite food for him," Natsuko said, grinning widely at the sight of her brother's body. "But I guess if he does decide to come back alive today then I'll need to bring food for me to cook for him. Either way, I still need to bring food."

Keiko shook her head and gave her a smile before gesturing for her to go get food. Natsuko smiled widely at her brother's best friend before grabbing the keys from the living room table. Giving the girl one last smile, Natsuko walked out of the door and made her way out of the door. She hoped her brother could understand that her hunger had a higher priority then his misgiving with Keiko.

She placed her hands into her pockets and walked towards the direction of the grocery store, whistling and looking up at the clear blue sky. Today was going to be a good day, she decided as she skipped towards the grocery store. She got pay back against her brother, doing the one thing that she knew he wanted her not to do.

If her brother didn't think she hadn't known about him temporarily coming back to life and reading through her diary then he had another thing coming. Honestly, if he wanted to make her think that he hadn't came back to life temporarily then he shouldn't have read the mangas she brought for him. Though to be fair, she needed to have a better hiding spot for her brother's manga.

Hmm, maybe she could also stop by the bookstore and get her brother's favourite manga. After all, he would want to read the newest edition of his favourite manga when he came back and it probably didn't help she want to see if Shuuichi was there. If Natsuko was honest, the red-haired teen was probably the closest thing she would have to a true friend, which was sad if you asked her.

A stranger was more of a friend then any of her classmates.

* * *

"You're back again, Natsuko-chan?"

Kurama blinked his eyes and twisted his head around as he watched a familiar petite blond-haired woman made her way towards the manga section of the bookstore. He curled his lips as the petite girl tried to reach for the top of the shelf. Why didn't the girl ever ask the owner to help her? Or any of the assistants? They wouldn't mind helping her, Kurama thought, glancing at the assistants, who were eyeing the girl's ass.

Shaking his head, Kurama slowly made his way towards the manga section. He stopped walking when he noticed that the girl was squating down, looking ready to jump to get the manga. Was she insane? He wondered, noticing how half of the male assistants had turned to look at the girl. Did she realize she might be giving a show to some of the guys here? Grimacing, he placed his hand on the girl's shoulder before grabbing the manga that the blonde had been eyeing.

"Y'know I could get it without any problem right?" Natsuko asked, twirling her body around and and placing her hands on her hips. He raised his eyebrow, glanced down at the petite girl and then to the bookshelf that must be nearly a head taller then the girl.

He raised his eyebrow at her. "I have no doubt Natsuko-san but you're wearing a skirt. If you have jump to get that manga then you would have every single male here seeing your underwear but if you prepare that I haven't done it then I apologize."

The blue-eyed girl stared at him, wrinkled her nose before giving him a shrug. "I wouldn't have mind but if they decided to try to tape my ass after that then I'll tell them that I'm not interested, Shuichi. I'm a big girl, Shuuichi and while I might not look like it, I can throw a mean punch when I want to."

Kurama curled his lips and looked at the short blond-haired girl. Looking at her, he doubted she could really throw a strong punch but he knew better than to presume this girl was weak. Never judge someone due to their appearance that was a lesson taught him by his mentor when he had been a young kit. Even the smallest animals and youngest human could be dangerous when given the right tools that was what his mentor always told him.

For all he knew, Natsuko was truly as strong as she claimed.

"How is your brother? Any change in his condition?" Kurama asked the blond-haired girl as they made their way to the counter.

"As far as I know, he's still in a coma," Natsuko answered as she paid for her book. "But he'll wake up soon and when he does, I've so many things to tell him."

"Like what?"

"That he shouldn't die on me," she said, running one hand through her hair while her other hand snatched the plastic bag from the shopowner. "Anyways enough about me, how's your mother? Is she getting any better?"

Kurama clenched his hands into a fist, took in a deep breath and stared at the blue-eyed girl, who looked at him in concern. He wanted to tell her that she shouldn't be concern for him or his mother but, he knew the girl had only asked because he asked her brother. If he wanted to get to know why this girl had so much spirit energy then he had to be honest with the girl.

"She's not getting better," He finally answered.

Natsuko blue eyes softened at his words. "I'm sorry about that, Shuuichi. Do you want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about Natsuko?" He asked sharply.

The blond-haired girl sighed. "It isn't easy for you is it? She's your mother isn't she? If it was my mother who is dying then I'll be upset, angry and blaming every single person that caused it. I would want to talk about it."

"What's the point of me blaming? There's no one to blame," He answered as they made their way to the grocery store. Kurama didn't know why he was following her but he did know that he rather preferred being around her then going back to the hospital, where his mother would question him about the blonde right beside him. "She's sick, not killed in a car accident like your brother. I can't blame anyone if I wanted."

Natsuko stared at him before looking down at her hands. "No, but Shuuichi it isn't good for you to hold back your feelings. It could end up killing you, y'know that right? And I prefer having my friends living."

"Who says I consider you my friend?" He asked, quirking his lips at her.

The blonde snorted. "You talk to me don't you? And you're following me to the grocery store, which counts as us hanging out! So that makes us friends."

"I could be getting stuff from the grocery store too," Kurama said, folding his arms.

"Doesn't mean you have to talk to me, does it?" She asked, grinning. "Besides, I don't see you talking to anyone else in the store, which means we're friends."

"You've a strange idea of friendship," Kurama said as they entered the store.

Natsuko shrugged her shoulders. "Even if you don't think we're friends, I consider you as my friend."

She was a strange human, Kurama thought, grabbing a plastic bag from the counter. She considered him a friend despite the fact that they only had a few encounters. Didn't she think they were just acciquantance like he did? He stared at the blond-haired girl, who was now grabbing a couple of carrots from the shelf beside him. He blinked his eyes when the girl gave him a smile before grabbing hold of some peppers.

 _Ring._

Kurama watched as the blond-haired girl dropped the pepper into her basket before picking up her phone. He strained his ear and listened as a girl told her that her house was on fire and that the firemen were making their way to her home. He looked away when the girl twisted her head to look at him, before looking at the basket.

He felt his throat dried when he saw the pain and worry in Natsuko's eyes. Shouldn't he ask her what was wrong? That was the right thing to do wasn't it? He blinked his eyes and shook his head as he heard a couple of ladies scream at Natsuko for pushing them out of her way. If they knew why she was in such a rush then they wouldn't act like that, Kurama thought, glancing at the fallen basket.

He folded his arms when he caught sight of the plastic bag filled with the mangas that Natsuko bought. Taking in a deep breath, he grabbed the plastic bag before glancing at the fallen basket. Should he pay for it for her? His human mother always told him to be a gentleman and be polite to girls. Kurama pursed his lips and took the girl's basket and plastic bag.

If he were to be friends with Natsuko then he should bring her, her stuff.

* * *

Yusuke clenched his hands into a fist when he caught sight of his sister running towards their burning apartment. Now she came? Why didn't she come back earlier? Where the hell had she been? All of those questions rushed through his mind as he stared at the burning building. His sister was lucky that Koenma told him how to save Keiko from the burning building because Yusuke could never live with himself if Keiko had gotten hurt from the fire. It wasn't Keiko's job to get his dead body from the apartment, it was suppose to be Natsuko's job.

What the hell was his sister doing this whole time?

"You mean to tell me there's another person in the building?" His sister cried, staring at the pale-faces of their neighbours. "Keiko is stuck in the burning building? Oh Kami, how could I be so stupid as to leave her alone in there?"

"You weren't stupid, you were very stupid, Natsuko!" Yusuke yelled at his sister's ears, earning a shaking head from Botan and disapproving snort from his investigator. His anger started to fade slightly when he saw just how pale faced his sister looked. His sister hadn't meant to be gone for long, he could see that from her expression, but what had she been doing for her to be gone for an hour? If he didn't know his sister couldn't hear him, he would ask her.

He blinked his eyes and gawked at the sight of his sister rushing into the burning building. Was she trying to get herself killed? Yusuke wondered, clenching his hands into a fist. Didn't she realize she could get burned? Of course she did. Natsuko was many things but his sister wasn't an idiot. She knew what would happen to her if she went into a burning building. He gritted his teeth and prayed that the path he made for Keiko would protect his sister too.

"How did your sister found out about the burning building?" Botan asked, glancing at him and then to black-haired shinigami beside her. "You didn't even observe Natsuko at all during this time, Hana."

The black-haired shinigami raised her eyebrows. "As I stated before, I was here to observe Yusuke. There was no point of me following Natsuko Urameshi when I was here to observe Yusuke. It will be also useless for me to even try to tell her about what was happening as my duties forbid me to make any contact with the living. Perhaps, she had one of her friends tell her."

"You mean one of her fake friends," Yusuke growled, clenching his hands into a fist. "My sister doesn't have any real friends. All of her friends tried to use my sister in one way or another, the only reason why they would tell my sister is because they want something from her. I don't know why the hell she's friends with assholes."

Botan shook her head while Hana just stared blankly at him. Yusuke stared right back at her and for the first time since this shinigami came to his life, he realized that the girl had blue eyes that were of a similar shade to his sister. He shook his head and glanced at Koenma, who stared narrow-eyed at his sister before glancing at the shinigami beside him.

The shinigami just ignored Koenma and stared at his sister before glancing at his neighbours, who were now whispering about his sister's deed. He felt his shoulders relax as his sister came out of the building with Keiko and his body in tow. His sister slumped her shoulders before glancing at the burning building. He licked his dried lips and floated towards his sister, who stared at his body and then at Keiko. Did his sister know? He wondered, staring at his sister.

No, Natsuko couldn't know.

"I'm sorry for leaving you alone, Keiko," His sister said, staring at his brother's unconscious body. "I thought I could buy some manga along with some food. I didn't think that something like this could happen. I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

Keiko sighed. "I know Natsuko...to be honest, I left a couple of minutes after you to go get some grocery food."

"You did?" Natsuko asked, blinking her eyes at him.

The brown-haired girl nodded and grinned. "While I was walking to the shop, I noticed you were talking to a cute redhead in your favourite bookstore. Was he the reason why you were so late in coming back?"

"He's a friend," His sister said, shaking her head. "And why are we talking about him? Are you alright? Do you know what exactly happen? No wait, you weren't there when the fire started. Shit, Yusuke could have seriously lose his body because I was too busy searching for the next volume of his favourite manga."

Was it because of the manga or because of some pretty boy? Yusuke wondered, narrowing his eyes at his sister as he noticed the distinct lack of plastic bag in her hands. His sister didn't even buy him his favourite manga, Yusuke thought, scowling at his sister. She was too busy talking to some pretty boy that wanted to get into his sister's pants. Didn't he ask her not to date any pretty boys unless he approved of him? No, he was so going to make his sister pay for this.

"Urameshi-senpai, Yukimura, were the two of you in the fire?" Kuwabara asked, looking at his sister and Keiko in shock.

Natsuko nodded her head. "Well I was in there temporarily but Keiko had been there for a couple of minutes."

Kuwabara griamced, glanced at Keiko's skirt and then to his sister's skirt before shaking his head. Yusuke frowned and stared at his sister's skirt, noticing for the first time since she came out of the fire that her skirt and shoes were burned. He glanced at Keiko and grimaced when he realized that Keiko's clothes were worse off then his sister.

This wouldn't have happened if someone hadn't came in and tried to burned their apartment down.

"We should leave," Kuwabara said, glazing at his sister. "No one knows about what's happening to Yusuke right?"

His sister shook her head. "No, the only people who know are Yusuke's friends, Mum, me, the doctor and Shuuichi."

"Who the hell is Shuuichi?" Kuwabara asked, furrowing his eyebrows at his sister.

 _That's what I want to know_ , Yusuke thought, crossing his arms at his sister while Keiko's eyes brightened at this knowledge. Yusuke frowned when he saw that look on Keiko's face. No, his friend was planning to matchmake his sister with whoever that guy was. He didn't accept this. His sister was going to grow old and become a spinster. She wasn't allowed to date anyone. There was no way in hell he was going to let Keiko go with the idea of matchmaking his sister.

No, he couldn't accept it.

"He's a friend that I made in the bookstore."

"Is he the redhead I saw you talking to earlier?" Keiko asked.

"Yes, why?" His sister asked, furrowing her eyebrows at the brown-haired girl.

"No reason," Keiko said, giving his sister a smile.

Yusuke scowled, crossed his arms and glared at Keiko before glancing at his sister, who just blinked her eyes and shook her head at her. No he had nothing to worry about, Yusuke thought, crossing his arms as he watched his sister and Keiko follow Kuwabara. His sister had no idea how boys looked at her and was just too innocent to think that guys were after her ass. She would go out on a date and think it was just an outing with a friend.

Yup, he had nothing to worry about.

"You're a very lucky boy to have a sister and girlfriend who cares for you," his investigator said, snapping him out of his train of thought. "For them to rush into your burning apartment without a single care about their body tells me a lot about how much they care for you. Perhaps, I was wrong in presuming that no one would want you to come back."

"Wait a second, were you going to write that in my report?" Yusuke yelled at the woman.

The woman raised her eyebrow. "I never said that I was going to write a report about people wanting you to come back. If I did that then I wouldn't have stayed here for a whole day would I? It's obvious that your family wants you to come back. No, my report is on something else entirely."

"But you said you were watching over Keiko to determine…"

"Oh I lied," Hana said, pursing her lips. "My real purpose was to investigate but not on your lovely girlfriend."

"Hana, why did my father send you here?" Koenma asked, narrowing his eyes at the black-haired shinigami. "I know it isn't because of Yusuke's girlfriend that you were sent here. My father never cared about anything as trivial as a spirit's relative or even a spirit so why did you come here?"

"I was here to investigate," Hana answered, closing her notebook. "But you're right, Lord Enma has no care for Keiko since she wouldn't interfere with Yusuke's revival process. No, I was sent to investigate someone else."

"But you have been following us the whole time!" Yusuke yelled, staring at the woman in confusion. "If you weren't observing Keiko this whole time or my mother then, who were you here to investigate?"

The black-haired woman stared at him for a good couple of minutes before finally answering, "I'm not going to tell Yusuke because it doesn't really affect you nor is it any of your business. This is business that affects Lord Enma."

"Not any of my business? You were watching my family and friends! What the hell does my family members have to do with Lord Enma?"

Hana stared at him. "I don't know Yusuke and even if I do know, I won't be allowed to tell you."

Damn it, this was why he hated adults, Yusuke thought, glaring at the shinigami. He could careless about what the King of the spirit world had to say. This was his family that she had been observing. Even if his family couldn't see Hana, it didn't mean that their privacy should be invaded. He rubbed his forehead and glanced at his sister's disappearing figure.

Well, at least his sister and Keiko were safe and that was what matter.

* * *

Kurama grimaced as he stared at the burned down apartment. He had gotten Natsuko's address from the bookstore owner, who gave him the address without any hesitance, but it looked like the blonde no longer had a home to go to. What was he going to do with this? He wondered, gazing down at the plastic bag filled with groceries and manga. He could use the groceries but he could definitely not read the manga.

There was nothing interesting about the manga as far as he could tell from the synopsis.

"Weren't you the boy that was talking to my daughter in the hospital a couple of weeks ago?"

Kurama blinked his eyes and relaxed his shoulders when he realised that the woman standing right in front of him was Natsuko's mother. He nodded his head and stared at the woman, who gave him a huge smile before staring up and down at him. Why did he have the strangest feeling that this woman was secretely interrogating him?

"Yes, Urameshi-san.."

"You can call me Atsuko," Natsuko's mother said, smiling widely at him. "Did you come here to see my daughter?"

Kurama nodded his head. "She dropped her stuff in the grocery store."

"So you decided to bring it back to her," Atsuko said, finishing his sentence. He nodded his head and handed Natsuko's stuff to the brown-haired young woman, who just blinked her eyes before glancing down at the plastic bag filled with grocery food and manga. The woman shook her head and smiled softly at the plastic bag.

"I should be going now," Kurama said, smiling at the woman.

The woman blinked her eyes. "You're sure? You can come with me if you want, I'm bringing Natsuko from her friend's house. Y'know I think she'll be very happy to see you."

He had no doubt about that, Kurama thought, shaking his head at the woman. If he wasn't worried about his mother then maybe he would take her up for her offer. He needed to spend as much time as he could with his mother before he made the deal. He wanted to savour the moments with his mortal mother before he died.

He couldn't savour those moments with his mother if he spent most of his time with Natsuko.

"Tell Natsuko I'll see her later," Kurama said, bowing politely at the young woman. "It was nice to make your acquiantence, Atsuko-san."

"It's pleasure to meet you, Shuuichi," Atsuko said, smiling widely at him. "And I'll tell Natsuko to visit you more often, god knows that my little girl needs to spend more time outside of the house. Maybe when my son wakes up, you could teach him and Natsuko something about manner."

He curled his lips at her words but his smile faded as he realized that he couldn't really talk to Natsuko in the next coming weeks. As much as he liked talking to Natsuko, he rather not want to cause her any pain when he died. He was many things but he wouldn't be cruel to a girl, who had been nothing but sincere to him.

Kurama didn't want to see the girl get hurt because of him.

* * *

A/N: Please review.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I know this chapter is short but I didn't really have much inspiration to write this chapter. I also know that it has been a long time since I updated but things had been hectic for me. I had been studying for exams and have a very sick grandfather that needs to be taken care of.**

* * *

 _I should never ever watch a horror movie before I go to bed; only a movie would make me think of kissing Yusuke_ , Natsuko thought to herself as she tied her bright yellow neckerchief around her neck. She had been having a good dream up until the point where she saw her brother's corpse on the ground. For some horrible reason,she imagined herself locking lips with her baby brother, which caused him to wake up. Now if he weren't her brother then it wouldn't be so horrible but, Yusuke was her brother. She might be overprotective at times but nothing in the world would make her want to kiss him.

"Want some eggs, Natsuko?" Her mother asked Natsuko when she entered the kitchen. The brown-haired woman had a cheery smile on her face as she pulled out a large pan from the counter. "I got plenty of time to make you some eggs before you have to go to school."

"Who the hell are you and what have you done to my mother? There is no way in hell she would be willing to make me some breakfast." Atsuko raised her eyebrow at her comment while Natsuko just sighed and nodded her head at the older woman. It just wasn't like her mother to offer her some breakfast. For as long as she could remember, it had been Natsuko who made breakfast for their family. The only time Atsuko offered to make breakfast was when she had some bad news to tell her like the time she told them she lost her job.

"Did you get fired or something?" She asked Atsuko, who pulled out the eggs from the fridge. Her mother vigorously shook her head as she cracked three eggs into the pan. Natsuko just frowned at this response. "Then why the change of behaviour? Something must have happened for you to suddenly decide to cook breakfast for me and eggs at that."

Atsuko flipped the eggs for the final time before slipping the eggs onto Natsuko's favourite orange plate. Her mother gave her a large smile as she pushed the plate in front of her. Keeping her eyes fixed on her mother, Natsuko pulled the plate towards her.

"Can't I decide to be a good mother and cook for you for once?" Atsuko finally asked. "Must there be a reason why I cooked for you?"

"You cook whenever you have some bad news to tell me," Natsuko pointed out to the older woman as she shoved the eggs into her mouth. She grimaced when she felt the taste of salt overriding the taste of egg. How many times had she told Atsuko to stop dumping salt into the eggs? Atsuko should know by now that she didn't have the same taste in food like her mother.

The last time her mother told her bad news was when she told them about how she lost her job. It had been disappointing to find out she couldn't buy anymore itching powder, or the fact she needed to give up her pocket money just so Yusuke could buy his favourite sports manga.

"I am working overtime, Natsuko so I won't be able to watch that horror movie with you like you wanted," her mother informed her. "I know you were looking forward to it but, my boss is really being an ass about it. When Yusuke wakes up, you can watch the Shinning with him. I know he would love to see the movie with you."

"It is fine, Mum. I will just do some homework and watch the movie with you some other time, Hopefully, before Yusuke wakes up because he is going to try to scare the crap out of me when we see the movie," Natsuko said, rolling her eyes. She sighed. "In fact, I think my little brother is still trying to terrify me from the other side."

"In what way would Yusuke try to scare you? He knows you aren't scared of anything," Atsuko shook her head. "You didn't even flinch when he left you alone in the haunted house. Till this day, I don't know where that brother of yours run off to, while you wander around the huaunted house."

 _He was probably getting into a fight,_ Natsuko mused to herself as she grabbed the glass of orange juice from her mother's hands. Her mother must have either forgotten about the call they got from the police about Yusuke or she was pretending her brother had been a saint. Knowing her mother, she probably had forgotten the whole incident. If it weren't for the fact her teachers had yelled at her for not controlling her brother's behaviour then she probably would have forgotten about the whole thing.

"I dreamt that I kissed a glowing Yusuke, which causes him to wake up," Natsuko shuddered, "Now while I like the idea of him being alive again; I don't want to be the one to kiss that boy on the lips. Just even talking about it makes me want to go back to the bathroom and use mouthwash. Only Yusuke would make me have these horrible dreams."

"That's funny.I had the same dream too," her mother grinned, "Maybe your brother is trying to tell us something."

Natsuko blinked and turned her head to the window, where she could see her brother standing there with the shinigami. If what her mother said was true then it meant the dream was related to his ressurction. But how could a simple liplock bring him back to life? And why wasn't he glowing? If she didn't want the Spirit World to know that she was aware of her previous life then Natsuko would storm through the gates and demand for King Yama to tell her what the hell was going on. There must have been some other way of sending her the message.

For now she had to observe her brother's body and see if there was any truth behind the dream. If she came back from her caligraphy club and see Yusuke's body glowing then she would lock lips with him. For that period of time, she would remind herself that he wasn't her brother. She could pretend she had only been Naru Uzumaki when she pressed her lips against his own lips.

This would be the only way for her to get through it.

"I think he is telling us that it wouldn't be long before he comes back to us," Natsuko flickered her eyes towards her brother's bedroom. "And when he does come back, I think he wants to give us a kiss so that we know how much he missed us."

"This is Yusuke that we are talking about," Her mother said as Natsuko made her way to the door. "Your brother doesn't deal with his emotions like that. Do you remember how he begged you to stop hugging him because he gotten slightly better in his Math test? No, I think he is telling us that we shouldn't make a big deal about his coming back or else he will make our lives difficult."

The blonde smiled at her mother's words, but a small part of her wondered if maybe her brother would be happy for them to shower him with attention. Being dead for so long would have made anyone change their behaviour. She, of all people, would know because Natsuko tried her hardest not to act completely like Naru. She learnt to appericate school and the importance of not fighting anyone who gave her the dirty eye.

Yusuke might have changed his behaviour now that he experienced death but it didn't matter to Natsuko. Why should it matter to her? As long as she could hug her brother again and see him try to get rid of any potential boyfreinds then it didn't matter.

As long as her family become whole again then it didn't matter what her brother become.

* * *

Natsuko curled her lips into a smile as she gazed down at the yellow daffodil, which were being proudly displayed in the local flower shop. Dafodills had always been her favourite flowers; espeically the yellow ones. Ino and Sakura used to believe she loved the yellow dafodills because of how the shade of yellow was the same as her hair colour. Only Hinata knew she loved the yellow dafodill due to what it symbolized to her. It had always meant a new beginning to her because dafodills were always the first flowers to bloom in her garden.

"Are you bringing flowers to your brother now?"

Turning her head around, Natsuko was greeted by the sight of Shuuichi standing there with a curious look on his face. She should ask him why he was in this part of the town but she knew the boy must have came here to get some flowers for his sick mother. This flower shop was just near the hospital; only a ten minute walk from there. Honestly, the guy was a little bit too perfect if you asked her. He was a good looking guy, who took so much care for his mother, and if that wasn't enough, he was nice too. There must be something wrong with him because no one could be that perfect.

"He ain't dead so there is no point for me to bring him flowers, Shuuichi," Natsuko said, giving the redhead teen a smile. "Can't a girl just take the time to smell her favourite flowers without someone jumping to the conclusion that she will buy them? Besides my brother isn't a fan of flowers. He was always the one stomping on them, not the one that will take the time to smell them."

Shuuichi nodded and gave her a smile before picking up the bright red roses, which sat right next to her favourite flowers. If she didn't know how sick Shuuichi's mother was then Natsuko would have said it was so adorable how he was bringing his mother her favourite flowers. But it wasn't adorable. It was heartbreaking because Shuuichi was just fifteen years old. Her accuiquantace shouldn't lose his mother from such a young age.

"Not many people like yellow dafodills," Shuuichi commented as he picked five dark red roses from the stall. "Most girls adore red roses since it means eternal love and lures the idea of passion. Yellow dafodills don't give the same idea to them and could be seen as an unrequired love but it also means friendship. If you give it to a lover then you are telling them that they are the only one."

"Y'know I never met a guy until now that knows so much about flowers till today," Natsuko admitted, picking up a yellow dafodill. "If my brother met you then he might think that you are a sissy just because you know about these things. Though I don't think you are a sissy because you are really muscular...I mean your abs were hard when I run into you the first time," she groaned. "And you are going to forget that I said that to you."

"Consider it forgotten," Shuuichi said, curling his lips into a thin smile. "Though I don't think I will forget that you find my abs hard."

"What? A girl notices these things when they hit into someone," Natsuko said, shaking her head. "Besides if a man can look at a woman's breasts and ass without regret then a woman should have the same right to look at a man's chest. It doesn't make it right but well things happen."

"You seem to be in a very good mood today," the red-haired teen said, "Did something happen during school today?"

"Nope," Natsuko shrugged her shoulder and looked up at the clear blue sky. "I just decided to be happy today. My brother might be in a coma for another couple of days, maybe even months but it doesn't mean I should be depressed about it."

"You mean when I was talking to you for the last couple of times that was you being depressed?" He looked so surprised about this fact that Natsuko was just tempted to tell him that she was joking about her behaviour. But it seemed so nice to see the boy being shocked that she just couldn't bring it to herself to tell him the truth. Then again, she couldn't tell him that she had a feeling her brother might wake up today.

He would call her insane for having this belief.

"It is me being upset, not depressed," she corrected him. "Anyways, can you blame me for being upset? I might have my mother but Yusuke is my baby brother. I have been trying to protect him since we were just kids. My whole family was ready to fall apart because I didn't do my job properly. If I had caught my brother skipping class then maybe he wouldn't have gotten into a car accident."

"You can't blame yourself for something that isn't your fault," Shuuichi said as the two of them head towards the counter. "There was no possibility that you could have known your brother would have been hit by a car when he skipped school that day. Just like I can't blame myself for my mother getting sick, you can't blame yourself for your brother's accident."

"Just because I know it ain't my fault doesn't mean I don't blame myself," Natsuko admitted as Shuuichi paid for his roses. "People will always find a way to blame themselves even if it wasn't their fault; I am sure you know this because you might have blame yourself for something that isn't your fault. Honestly if it weren't for the fact my brother is in a coma, I would have done anything in my power to make sure he came back to me. Of course that is me being silly because I can't play god but…"

"If you knew how to bring him back to life then you would do it in a heartbeat," Shuichi finished, giving her a tight smile. "I understand what you mean Natsuko-san."

She smiled at Shuichi before glancing out at the clear blue sky. She hadn't realized until she told Shuichi about her feelings that a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The last time she talked about her feelings of guilt was when she spoke to Kurama about Sasuke leaving her again. Her friend had rolled his eyes at her and told her she was no way responsible for making her husband leave her and her kids.

She wondered if Kurama would have said the same things that Shuichi had said to her.

"Is your mother getting better?" Natsuko asked as the two of them walked out of the shop. "I have been talking to you about my crap when you are going through something more serious. Hey do you want me to buy you some ramen while you tell me about how things are going?"

"I should go see my mother now, Natsuko-san."

"You aren't in any state to see her now," Natsuko folded her arms against her chest. "Shuichi, if I can see that you are mentally exhausted then I know your mother can see it too. C'mon it is obvious to anyone with eyes that you haven't build the walls needed to face your mother's condition."

"Maybe you are just sharp."

"Or maybe you have been wearing yourself thin," she suggested, slipping her hands into her pockets, "Look Shuichi just have some ramen with me and talk to me about your problems. Your Mum won't be able to handle it if she sees that you are suffering with the knowledge that she is sick."

"I prefer to have some tea while I tell you about my mother's condition," Shuichi relented as the two of them stopped in front of the cafe that was just across the hospital. If it weren't for the fact she could see bags developing under the boy's emerald eyes then Natsuko would have danced at the fact that she got him to go with her to get some tea. If they were going to keep running into each other then Natsuko was going to make him her friend. She needed a friend now that she finally admitted to herself that her friends weren't really her friends.

Natsuko knitted her eyebrows together when she caught sight of a waitress giving her the dirty look. Was there something she didn't know about? She asked herself as she took a seat across Shuichi. The waitress smiled at her just a few weeks ago so why was she now giving her a look that suggested she was the enemy now. If Kurama was still sealed inside her gut then the demon would have told her that they were being stupid. Yup, she decided, the waitress was just being stupid.

"So what's happening to your mother? Is she getting better?"

"She is getting worse," Shuichi replied as a waiter handed them the menu. "The doctors don't know what kind of illness my mother has except, for the fact it isn't curable. They try their best to ease the pain and they are looking for a way to cure her illness but…"

"...They doubt she will live long enough for them to find the cure," Natsuko finished, running her hand through her hair. "You know if it weren't for the fact I can't stand the smell of alcohol, I would have suggested we get some alcohol because this is some serious shit we are talking about. It must be killing you that there is nothing they can do about it."

Shuichi didn't reply to her comment, instead he chose to give his order to the waiter. How the hell could she cheer him up? She had never been good when it came to making people happy. Whenever Sasuke was remembering the death of his family, Naru would always leave him to deal with it. Sasuke had never been able to deal with emotions, always prefering to be left alone instead of talking about his problems. It probably was why they had a few issues during their marriage.

Her marriage to Sasuke hadn't allowed her to learn how to deal with people that were emotionally upset.

"It hurts that they can't do anything about it but they are trying their best to help her," Shuichi finally answered. "And my mother would have passed away a long time ago if it weren't for the fact she was using every inch of her strength to fight her illness. I just wish I had been a better son to her."

"You have been a better kid then I have been to my mother," Natsuko informed him. She felt her lips twitched as the memories of her own kids flooded into her mind. If she just closed her eyes, she could picture her daughter trying to make some pancakes for her. "I never bring flowers to my Mum and I used to fight with her about her issues with alcohol. The only good thing which came from my brother's accident is the fact my mother finally decided to become sober. Anyways, you are a good son. You bring her flowers and visit her everyday so that makes you a good son."

Shuichi curled his lips at her words and Natsuko knew he didn't really believe her. Why would he? To the rest of the world, she was a fifteen year old girl. No one knew that she was a thousand-year-old soul stuck in a young body. Only a select few knew about her previous life. No one would ever think a girl like her had given birth to three stubborn kids or made friends with one of the most powerful demons. As long as her name was Natsuko Urameshi then no one would ever take the time to see her as Naru Uzumaki.

She hated this fact.

"I never did enough for her."

"Did you ever think that maybe she never wanted anything from you, except to be happy?" Shuichi blinked his eyes and Natsuko just stared blankly at the clock. "I don't know much about your Mum but I know your Mum, like mine, would say that just being there for her was enough," she felt her throat clogged up as the memory of Naru's kids as well as her own friends flooded into her mind. "The fact that you are there supporting her is enough for her and if you don't give her a smile then you are going to let her down. If you give her a smile then it will make her work harder to beat that sickness."

"That isn't the way the world works, Natsuko-san. I could be a better son to her. Just smiling won't make her stop being sick."

"But it will give her some relief and reassurance," Natsuko said. "And for now, I think that is what she wants. Don't do something that will make your mother cry, Shuichi because seeing your mother cry her heart out...well it isn't pretty."

And with those words, Natsuko placed the money on the table and made her way out of the cafe, leaving Shuichi staring blankly at her.

She didn't need to be a genius to figure out that her friend was feeling guilt for his mother's sickness; she just hoped that he didn't do something stupid because of said guilt.

* * *

"Why the hell did it take my sister so long to come back home?" Yusuke grumbled to himself as he watched his sister entered the hallway. It just wasn't like her to be so late in returning home. Did she forget the dream? Or maybe she was thinking that the dream was nothing important. If it weren't for the fact Keiko was looking after her mother or the fact that their mother was working then he would have gone to them. The last thing he wanted was to have his sister lock lips with him.

"Maybe she was with that Shuichi," Botan suggested. "She did spend a lot of time with him while your old house was getting burned down."

No, his sister would not leave him alone just so she could talk to some pretty boy. There was just no way his sister would prefer the company of some weak boy over the idea of waking him up. He thinned his lips and stared down at his sister, who took a bottle of coke from the fridge. There was a smile on his sister's face and not just any smile but, a smile which said she had been having fun. He should be happy that his sister had fun but not when his own life was in stake.

"How the hell is some pretty boy more important than me?" Yusuke yelled. "If she doesn't go to my room and kiss me then it might take me a real long time before I come back to life."

Botan opened her mouth to answer him but then slowly closed her mouth. She probably couldn't answer the question, Yusuke mused to himself as he turned his attention to his sister, who kept her eyes fixed on his bedroom's door. Just take a few steps and open the damn door, Yusuke thought to himself as he floated towards his sister. He didn't want his sister to kiss him but if it meant he could come back to life then he would handle it like the man he was.

"I can't believe I am going to check his body," Natsuko muttered, putting her drink onto the counter. "If it turns out that he is literally glowing then I will never ever make fun of my dreams. Now where the hell is the mouthwash? If I am going to do it then I will need some mouthwash to forget I kiss him."

'Leave some for me!" Yusuke cried. "I want to forget too!"

His sister thinned her lips and shook her head before slowly making her way towards his bedroom. He was finally going to be alive again. Now he could finally figure out who the hell his sister was hanging out with and threatened the bastard if he even think of hurting his sister. No, maybe he could scared the crap out of the bastard so that his sister realized just how weak the guy was. Yup, he was going to figure out who the bastard was that was sweet-talking his sweet innocent older sister.

Yusuke felt his heartrate increased as his sister took a seat beside his bedside. It felt almost strange seeing his sister sitting beside his glowing body. It felt even weirder when he knew his big sister was going to give him a kiss to make sure he came to life. His big sister was the last person he would imagine that would lock lips with him. At least the two of them could pretend it never happened.

"I know you must be listening to me, Yusuke so I am going to give you a speech before I do this because I know you can't answer back to me," his sister put her hand on his glowing forehead and took in a shaky breath. "You are an absolute idiot for getting yourself killed like that. I mean sure I understand why you scarifice your life but did you ever thought how Mum and me would react to this? I will be the one to end you if you get yourself killed again. You aren't allowed to die on me again! I still need you to annoy the crap out of me! I want you to try to scare any boy that tries to ask me out on a date."

"So I can scare this Shuichi guy! And you bet your ass that I will try to scare any boy who stares at you in the wrong way."

His sister laughed and shook her head before pressing her lips against his own lips.

And that was the last thing Yusuke saw before he came back to life.

* * *

 **A/N: Please review and tell me what you think**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter as well as everyone who added this story to their favourites and follows.**

* * *

"I can take care of myself, Natsuko-neechan! There is no point of you following me as I go get some drinks!"

Natsuko raised a lone eyebrow at her younger brother as the two of them walked through the crowded streets of Kaiden. Did he really believe she would let him go do his own stuff when he gotten himself killed? She kissed him for god sake. There was no chance in hell that she would allow him to get himself killed. If Yusuke got himself killed then Natsuko would have to be forced to kiss him again and that could not do.

Nope, she prefere to watch him to make sure that didn't happen.

"Did you or did you not forget that I had to put my lips on yours just so you can come back to life?" Yusuke gagged and winced at the memory while Natsuko shuddered at the memory. "I ain't doing that again, Yusuke so I am going to have to watch you like a hawk so that it doesn't happen. Seriously, I don't want to do it ever again."

"We vowed never to speak of it again," Yusuke grumbled.

"Then don't complain."

Rolling his eyes, Yusuke gave her a small nod before glancing at the people surrounding them. _No one knew except for only a few people that my brother came back to life_ , Natsuko mused to herself as she looked up at the floating clouds. Every single person in this street wouldn't know her little brother had been given a second chance in life or how sweet he had been to save a little boy's life. In fact, most people in their school still didn't believe her brother gave up his life to protect a young boy from a speeding car.

"Excuse me, could I bother you for a while?" Natsuko blinked her eyes and turned her head to see a fortune teller staring at them. No, she corrected herself, the fortune teller was looking at Yusuke. The young woman had her purple eyes fixed on her baby brother, who just stared blankly back at her. The blonde rubbed the back of her neck as she waited for her brother to make a decision.

"Are you talking to my sister or me?" Yusuke finally asked.

"I think she is talking to you," Natsuko whispered into her brother's ear. Yusuke blinked his eyes and raised his eyebrows at her but she only shrugged her shoulders. She sighed when her brother continued to furrow his eyebrows at her. "Well she ain't looking at me is she?"

"Your sister is right, I am talking to you," the fortune teller said, drawing their attention back to her. She placed both of her hands on the crystal ball and kept her eyes fixed on Yusuke's brown eyes. "You were born under a unique star," her voice started to get deeper as she continued on, "And you are very different from other people!"

"You could say that again!" her brother declared.

The blonde groaned and shook her head at Yusuke. The girl was feeding on her brother's ego, Natsuko grumbled to herself as her brother smiled cockily at the fortune teller. Yusuke wasn't physically different from other people; he was just slightly stronger then most people. However, she could not deny that there had been an increase in her brother's spiritual energy. Natsuko had noticed this change the moment her brother's eyes opened, but what she didn't know if it was due to her or due to the fact he came back to life.

If she was like Sakura or Keiko then she would do research about it but Natsuko had never cared about these things.

"There is also a heavy responsibility awaiting you," the fortune teller continued; her tone was laced with seriousness as she gazed up on her little brother.

If she had been any other person then Natsuko could ignore the fortune teller's words but, Natsuko knew her brother's ressurction came with a price. Enma did not allow just anyone to come back to life. No, there was a reason why her brother came back to life and if the Spirit World was like she remembered then it was not for fun and games. No, the King of the Spirit World must have big plans for Yusuke; plans which could get him into serious trouble.

Of course, this was her being worried about her brother.

"I am sorry!" Yusuke grinned. "I don't feel like having connections with any spiritual and mystical stuff right now. I am already kinda stressed about other things now and I am going to be spending time with my big sister here."

Natsuko flashed an apologetic smile at the fortune teller before dragging her brother out of the street. There was no way Yusuke could run away from them that much she knew but, it didn't mean she couldn't try. She flickered her eyes at the scenery around them, where pedastian kept pushing each other as they tried to get to the bus stop. Fortune tellers were never right but after what happened to her brother, Natsuko could not take the chance that something might happen to Yusuke.

"Slow down Natsuko-neechan," Yusuke yelled, tugging his hand out of her own hand. "What the hell is going on? You can't be scared of what some weirdo said! It is bullshit and you know it."

Taking a deep breath, Natsuko turned to the black-haired boy and gave him a small smile. If it hadn't been for Kurama and Sasuke then she wouldn't have realized that her large smile was only good enough to fool people, who didn't really know her. This smile, Natsuko had quickly learnt, was the best smile that could make Sasuke believe she was fine. It would have been a waste of effort if she tried to fool Kurama since the fox could sense her emotions.

"Nothing is going on, Yusuke," Natsuko reassured her brother. "The fortune teller just freaked me out with all her talk about you being born in a unique star that is all. Anyways didn't you want to go to your usual bar?"

"You are going to let me drink?" Her brother grinned. "Being dead did have some perks; you stop pestering me about how drinking ain't good for me."

"I am not letting you drink," Natsuko informed him as the two of them continued to walk through the street which would lead them towards the usual bar. Yusuke raised his eyebrow but the blonde just rolled her eyes at him. "Just because you die once doesn't mean I am going to let you do what you want. You are not drinking and that's final."

"You can't stop me."

"Oh? Then I hope you don't mind me telling Keiko about how you call out her name in your sleep," her brother opened his mouth to protest but Natsuko waved him off. "Yusuke, I have proof that you do call her name in your sleep. If that isn't enough for you to reconsider drinking then I hope you don't declaring to the whole city why a couple of months ago, you were limping to school."

"Like anyone would believe you."

"After what I did to our teachers in your wake, I think they would believe me," Natsuko drawled, earning a grimace from Yusuke. She clenched her hands into a fist as the memories of what those two assholes of a teacher say in her brother's wake. Those two didn't deserve to be teachers, not when they insulted her brother's kindness.

"Then what's the point of me going to a bar if I can't get alcohol?"

"Drink a mocktail," Natsuko replied, rolling her eyes. "C'mon if you get into any lifethreatening situations again and survive then, only then, will I agree for you to drink."

"I will go find myself a lifethreatening situation then," Yusuke grumbled as the two of them stopped in front of the bar. The blonde raised her eyebrow but made no attempt to tell her brother not to find trouble. He would never try to listen to her, which was fine with her because she didn't want her brother to change. Even then, trouble always seemed to find her cute little brother. Nope, it was better not to correct him.

"The guys from the school in the other district are inside," one of her classmates said to his friend; her fellow students stopped walking when they caught sight of her standing beside her brother. They looked at her for a good couple of seconds and smiled at her but Natsuko just gave them a tight smile as a greeting. The two of them looked put out but made no attempts to call out to her. Instead, they continued on with their conversation. "They have been coming over pretty often nowadays…"

"Who is this?" Natsuko called out to her classmates, who turned their body around to look at her. "Who has been coming here?"

"You didn't hear Natsuko? No, I doubt you would have heard after what happened with your brother. You haven't been here since your brother's death," Natsuko winced at the reminder while her brother turned to look at her in confusion. "The delinquents from Rugafuji Junior High have been coming to this bar and trying to take our turf."

"They would need to fight Kuwabara," Natsuko pointed out. "With my brother gone, Kuwabara is the next person in charge of this area."

"I think they intend to suppress Kuwabara and his gang," her classmate suggested, grimacing. "Once they do that then they can take over the whole area."

"Maybe you could fight them," another classmate suggested. "With your brother gone and Kuwabara being Kuwabara…"

"Ain't my business," Natsuko told them. "Fighting was my brother's thing; never mine. What happened with our teachers was another thing entirely."

The two students grimaced at her words before giving her, their goodbyes. Natsuko should tell them that she would handle it but her brother could handle something as small as this. There was no point of her wasting energy to fight these bastards. She nodded her head and went inside the bar with her brother not far behind her. Getting into anymore fights might give her a bad report and the last thing she wanted her new high school to know was the fact she got into fights.

Her brother slid into the seat right in front of her while Natsuko grabbed hold of the menu from the waiter's hands. She frowned when her brother slid his sunglasses down. What was he so interested in? She glanced to her left and right before giving her brother a frown. He jerked his head forward. The blonde twisted her head to look behind her. She felt her blood turned cold when she saw horns sprouting from a boy's head.

How long had it been since she seen this?

"Why didn't you tell me these people were becoming powerful while I was gone?" her brother hissed when she turned her head back to him.

"Didn't you hear? I haven't been in this area since you gotten yourself killed," Natsuko snapped. "Anyways, I keep myself out between school area wars. This is something that you know damn well….how the hell was I suppose to realize this was going to happen?"

"Because you know everything!"

"I don't know everything and you know it," she took in a deep breath. "Anyways if I did know, what the hell you expect me to do? I can't allow myself to get into trouble Yusuke, I need to go to a good high school with a scolarship. Getting into a fight won't get me the scolarship."

Yusuke opened his mouth to argue with her but Natsuko gave him a sharp look. Naru Uzumaki would have charge right in and get into a fight because she didn't care about the consequence of her actions. Natsuko cared because she wouldn't allow herself to work two part-time jobs just so she could make enough money to support herself. If she was going to get a good job then she would have to go to a good high school, which meant she shouldn't have any bad reports.

Once she get into a high school then that was a whole different story.

"Kuwabara is late," One of the gang members said. Natsuko frowned at this piece of infromation andnd sat up straight while her brother grimaced. "Hey he wouldn't brush us off, would he?"

"He must be a dumbass to brush us off." Another gang member sneered.

"Will Kuwabara really listen to your orders?"

"He has to!" The boss declared. "The trump card is in my hands! To prove his sincereity when I called him to come here, I also ordered him and his companions to steal a few comic books from the shop."

 _What the hell did he do to Kuwabara?_ _I know that boy and nothing in the world would make him steal anything,_ Natsuko thought to herself as her brother pulled out the newest manga that she brought for him. She knew her brother's rival well enough to know that the boy would never allow himself to get involved with something as low as this. For all the talk Kuwabara gave, the boy did not have a single bad bone in his body. No, he wouldn't dare steal some comic books.

Stealing would be against the boy's moral conduct.

Natsuko felt her whole body stiffened as she heard the bar's door being opened. Twisting her head, the girl was taken back at the sight of a sweating Kuwabara, who held in his hands a plastic bag. She glanced at her brother, who kept his eyes fixed on the scene in front of them. Damn it, she should have taken the seat beside him instead of sitting across him. It would make it less obvious if she didn't have to turn her head around every few seconds.

"Ekichi! Where's Ekichi!" Natsuko slapped her forehead while Yusuke blinked his eyes at her. "Hand him over right now!"

"Who the hell is Ekichi?" Yusuke asked, folding his arm against his chest.

"His kitten," Natsuko answered with a stiff smile on her face. Her brother frowned and gave her a look that said he thought she was joking about who Ekichi was. Of course, her brother would think it was a joke. He didn't like anything that was considered adorable and had made the presumption thaat Kuwabara was the same thing. That cute brother of hers should never think his fellow delinquent was the same as him. Besides Ekichi was a cute little kitten and it was kind of understandable why Kuwabara would steal; if he did steal it. However, she wanted to know how they came to possess his kitten.

She was snapped out of her train of thought when she heard something being slammed onto the table. Rubbing her neck, Natsuko turned to look at Kuwabara, who had a determined look on his face. She grimaced when she caught sight of three comic books on the table. Was his kitten that important to him that he would go against his code? Then again, if they were as important to him as her toad summons and friends had been to her then it was understandable. Natsuko would have walked through fire to make sure her friends were safe.

"There it is!" Kuwabara cried. "Now hand Ekichi over to me!"

The horned boy gazed down at the three comic books, where a single piece of paper laid. Natsuko felt her heartrate increased as the expression of the teenage boy's face went from amusement to fury. What the hell did Kuwabara do to make that weirdo angry? Did Kuwabara bring the right comic books? Or was it something else entirely? Well whatever the case was, the orange-haired boy wasn't going to get his kitten back anytime soon.

"I told you to steal! What is with this receipt?"

"As long as the stuff is here then it is the same whether it is stolen or brought!" he declared.

The boss twisted his lips into a scowl. "Idiot! I wanted you to enjoy the thrill, the risk and, the danger! This is different from our agreement. You must apologized."

Natsuko glanced down at her hands and wished not for the first time that this exchange was happening somewhere that wasn't in a bar. She wanted to beat those boys up for threatening Kuwabara. Maybe she could hurt them. All she needed to do was use some of her chakra to form shadow clones, who could disguise themselves as someone else. However, it always made sound and she didn't want anyone to find out about them.

Maybe, she could ambush them instead.

"Kneel!" the boy smirked. "And say I am sorry that I didn't keep to the agreement."

 _This was going too far_ , Natsuko thought to herself as she curled her hands into a fist. She might not know Kuwabara as well as her brother did but she knew this was against the boy's conduct. Hell, Natsuko would be humilated if she was in his shoes. She would protest if she was in his situation. The only thing that would make her swallow her pride and do such a shameful thing was if Yusuke or Keiko were threatened. This was the only time when she would give up her pride.

"I didn't keep to the agreement," Kuwabara mummbled as he knelt down to the ground. "And I am sorry."

"I can't hear you!" the boy sang.

Natsuko stood up and was about to go overthere and teach the boy a lesson when her brother grabbed her arm and pulled her beside him. She arched her eyebrow at Yusuke, who shook his head and gave her a look that told her that he didn't think this was the right place for a fight. Was her brother really trying to stop her from fighting? That little brother of hers loved fighting so why would he stop her from doing this? It was only right that she did this.

"You can't fight them Natsuko," Yusuke said, narrowing his eyes at them. "As much as I want to see you kick their ass, this isn't the place where you can get into a fight. Besides, you will hurt Kuwabara's pride if you save his ass."

"He wouldn't mind if it was you!"

"That is because I am a guy and you are not," Yusuke protested. "It hurts a man's pride when a woman comes to save his ass."

"Then he ain't a man," Natsuko retorted as one of the gang members pulled out a kitten from a paper bag. She narrowed her eyes and flung her hand at Kuwabara. "Look at him, Yusuke! This isn't fair on him. He could beat those weak bastards up if it weren't for the fact they were threatening his kitten."

"I know Natsuko; Ican't believe I am saying this, but this isn't the place to get into a fight. Once they leave this place then we can handle this!"

The blue-eyed girl sighed and went back to her seat. The fact that Yusuke told her not to fight them was proof that she couldn't fight them here. If her baby brother, who loved fighting, told her not to brawl with these people then it spoke volumes of how inapproriate the fight would be. She glanced at Kuwabara and then to the rest of his gang, who all had a furious expression painted on their face.

As soon as they leave the bar then Natsuko would attack them.

"...Sarayashiki's Yusuke Urameshi was the biggest bad egg in the world!" Natsuko gritted her teeth together but stayed in her spot. "Even we could do nothing about that! But he died because he wanted to save a child!"

The gang member laughed. "There is nothing sillier than that."

 _How dare they insult him?_ Natsuko asked herself as she willed herself to stay put. Who were they to insult her little brother? Her brother may have gotten himself killed for saving that boy but it wasn't silly. If anything Yusuke's actions showed he was more then what people thought he was. Everyone saw her brother as being an evil little shit. No one, except for Keiko and her, saw her brother as being a nice boy, who just adored to fight.

How could they even think her brother's scarifice was silly?

"Leave the dead alone," the horned-boy ordered, standing up. "And let us find our own fun."

Once they left this bar, Natsuko was going to teach those two little shitty gang memebers just what she did to people, who insulted her brother.

No one was allowed to disrespect her brother's scarifice.

* * *

Yusuke couldn't help but shudder as he felt his sister rushed towards the fence that was behind the bar. It might be true he wasn't terrified of anything but the fury radiating out of Natsuko's body was almost enough to make him let her deal with the mess Kuwabara was in. Seriously, he knew his big sister could be terrifying when she wanted to be but, he hadn't realized just how scary she could be until he felt like he was choking under the presence of her fury. It almost reminded him of what she did to their teachers during his wake.

"You beat up the bastard holding Kuwabara's kitten," his sister hissed as they stared down at the horned-boss and his corny. "While I beat up those two assholes who insulted your scarifice. I am going to make them wish they didn't say those words about your action."

"And people think that you can't harm a fly," Yusuke muttered, remembering how some of his fellow classmates would say his sister was a princess that needed someone to protect her. Sometimes, he was tempted to tell them that his sister was the one who taught him how to use his fist. What would they think of their little princess if they knew she was violent? Not much that was for sure.

"That's because they don't know me, Yusuke." And with those words, his sister jumped over the fence. Rolling his eyes, Yusuke followed his sister and smashed his fist against the gang member holding the kitten. He grabbed hold of the kitten and watched in amusement as his sister swung her leg onto one of the other gang members. Yusuke nearly winced when his sister hurled her fist against the other gang member who insulted him.

"How is this possible? And Urameshi's sister doesn't fight!" The gang member cried as Yusuke handed the kitten to his sister.

"Who the hell do you think taught my brother to fight?" His sister retorted, stilting her eyes at them. "And obviously my baby brother came back from the dead. Now I am going to put this kitten down and show you what I do to people who insult my brother's scarifice. Though I think Kuwabara and his friends want to teach you a lesson for humilating them...nah, I think I will let them handle it."

"Urameshi-senpai! Urameshi!" Kuwabara cried as Natsuko craddled the kitten against her chest. "Why didn't you tell me that Urameshi was back?"

"He only came back last evening," Natsuko answered, shrugging her shoulder. Yusuke grimaced as he remembered how his sister brought him back to life. That would be the last time he wanted someone to talk about his coming back. He did not want to remember it without having some mouthwash with him. God, he still had nightmares from the event.

"Hey!" Kuwabara grinned and his friends smirked when they realized what the orange-haired boy planned to do. "Hey furballs!"

Yusuke nodded his head and glanced at his sister, who gestured for him to run off. He grinned, waved his sister his goodbye before running after the boss that threatened to hurt Kuwabara's kitten. There was no way he could let the bastard go, not after what he tried to make Kuwabara do. Sure he might get annoyed with Kuwabara but the orange-haired boy did help his sister when their home got burned down. The least he could do for his fellow delinquent was teach the bastard a lesson.

He grinned as he stuck to the shadows of the tunnel under the train station. In Yusuke's experience, he

"This was unexpected," the horned-boy stuttered as he took several steps backwards.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson," Yusuke smirked. The horned-boy gulped and tried to run away but, he grabbed hold of the boy's collar and pulled him towards him. Without a second thought, he knocked the boy's head and watched in satisfaction as he fell down to the ground. "Using an animal as a hostage, that is just a new low."

He blinked his eyes when he caught sight of something crawling out of the boy's mouth. To his surprise, he could see the horn disappearing from the boy's head. He narrowed his eyes when he saw it was a brown-scaled man with two horns poking out of his head. The little monster rubbed his forehead and looked up at the clear blue sky with befuddlement shining through its creepy eyes.

"What the hell are you?" Yusuke asked, kneeling down to look at the monster.

"Need to escape!" The monster cried as it tried to jump but, Yusuke grabbed hold of the monster before it could disappear. He barely blinked his eyes when he felt sparks erupting from the demon-like man when he grabbed hold of him.

"How can it be? A normal human being wouldn't be able to see me!" The demon declared with his mouth hanging open. "Much less, capture me with his bare hands!"

Yusuke blinked his eyes. "This is a weird demonic creature...and he is talking to me."

"He even understands me!" The demon cried.

"This guy has five previous crimes under Reikai files, classified under the evil ghost," Yusuke was startled when he saw the fortune teller from before, coming out from the shadows and walking towards him. "He eats up the evil part of humans and leads that one towards the path of evil."

"Weren't you the fortune teller from before?" Yusuke inquired as he tightened his grip on the demon.

The fortune teller ignored his question and turned her gaze towards the unconscious boy. "That boy has an unhealthy heart, therefore the demon could take advantage of him. But for you to have captured him before my issuing the order, well that is a pleasent surprise. You have it in you to become the Spirit Detective," she pointed a slender finger at him, "Just like now, your job is to eliminate the threads of abnormal happening in the background! It is your destiny as the Spirit Detective."

Yusuke gritted his teeth and strengthed his grip on the demon. In the corner of his eye, he thought he saw his sister leaning against the wall but when he turned his head to look at the wall, he caught no hint of Natsuko being there. Maybe, he was starting to become paranoid. His big sister would have made her presence known to him if she was here. Nah, he was just imagining things now.

"What is the Spirit Detective? What destiny?" He cried. "Why are you telling me all these weird things? Who in the world are you?"

"Me? Don't you remember?" The fortune teller peeled off the layers of cloths surrounding her. He scowled when he realized that the fortune teller was actually Botan. How the hell was he supposed to know if she was dressed like that? Nope, he was goddamn confused. "I am the Spirit World's newsbearer, the one who shall transmit all future correspondence from the Spirit World to you. The helper of the Spirit World, detective Botan! Pleased to meet you!"

"W-What!"

He didn't signed up for this.

* * *

Natsuko knew something was up the moment her brother came back to her with a dazed off expression. She didn't know what exactly was happening but she could tell from the twitching eyebrow that he was furious about something. The only thing she did not know what was he angry about. Did the boss say something to make him angry? Or was it something else entirely? If only she had gone to follow him but Kuwabara had been insistent that he make it up to her. In fact, he made many good arguments on why she shouldn't chase after her brother; one of them being that Yusuke would not want his big sister to help him.

"Hey Yusuke is something wrong?" Natsuko asked him.

Her baby brother shook his head. "No! Nothing is wrong! Hey wasn't there a movie that you wanted to watch with Mum? I remember you telling Mum that you wanted to see it with her but since she is still working, I can watch it with you. Just don't scream in my ear when it gets scary for you."

Did he really believe a change of topic would be enough for her to believe him? Natsuko asked herself as she forced herself to nod her head at him. She knew him better than he know himself. The blonde knew from the fake smile on his face that something was making him angry but, being the protective brother that he was, he didn't want to tell her. It was fine with her because Natsuko would find out what bothered him. She would find out even if it killed her.

"You know that you can tell me anything right?"

"Just like you will tell me everything about that Shuichi boy?" Yusuke retorted. "You still haven't told me a damn thing about the pretty boy even when I asked you with all the nicness that I can get."

If Shuichi was her boyfriend then Natsuko would entertain with the idea of telling her baby brother about him but, Shuichi was her friend. A good looking male friend that she didn't want her brother to scare away. She might not know the red-head boy well but, Shuichi was probably the only friend that she had, who was her age. It would be terrible if she allowed Yusuke to try to terrify him. Though Natsuko doubt Shuichi would be scared of her brother; he did not seem the type that would allow small threats to interfere with their friendship.

"I told you that he is my friend and that is it," Natsuko reminded him. "Why would you want to find out who he is? It ain't like my friendship with him would be so painful for you."

"Friend my ass!" Yusuke yelled, crossing his arms at her. "If he is your friend then why the hell did Mum and Keiko make it seem like he is your boyfriend? And you left my body alone so that you could spend time with him? Nope, he ain't a friend."

"When I tell you that Keiko and you are more then friends, you would tell me that I am an idiot for imagining a relationship that isn't there," Natsuko reminded him. "I am telling you the same thing: he is a friend and that is it. There will be no relationship between us. Anyways I spent time with him when I left your body alone because my school friends are assholes that preferred that you hadn't lived. Also, I was talking to him about his sick mother. Excuse me for not knowing our apartment was being burnt down."

"It doesn't mean you can spend hours with him," her brother snapped. "What if he is just making it up so you could give him some sympathy and have pity sex with him?"

"One, I know when someone is lying to me," Natsuko said, rolling her eyes. "Two: he doesn't need to use sympathy to get sex. The boy is too pretty for his own good and has a voice that will make any sane girl drop everything for him. Besides, he looked very upset and torn apart when we talked about his mother."

"I am just saying I need to talk to the guy and see if he is worthy of being in your presence."

"Yusuke, it is cute that you think I need protecting from every man that looks my way but, I can and I will protect myself if Shuichi shows one hint of being less then a gentleman to me...of course if I didn't conent to it," Natsuko informed him. "One day, I might invite him to our flat and when that day happens, then and only then, will I allow you to talk to him and threaten him."

She doubt her brother could threaten Shuichi to leave her alone but Natsuko would love to see him try.

* * *

 **A/N: Please review.**


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